


Transformers: Defiance

by Saya444



Series: Transformers Titan [4]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Prequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:34:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21753832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saya444/pseuds/Saya444
Summary: Sequel to Uprising. Cybertron sits on the brink of total social anarchy as the order falls apart in the face of the growing Decepticon revolution. Orion Pax of the Autobot peacekeeping forces struggles to do his duty as enemies both visible and invisible aim to remove him from the equation while also inheriting a great destiny that will change Cybertron's fate forever.
Series: Transformers Titan [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/765966





	1. Law and Order

Transformers: Defiance

Part 1-Foundation

Chapter 1-Law and Order

The Citadel was a relatively new addition to Iacon’s governmental center. It was a tall tower that stood next to the Decagon, plated with stainless steel and chrome that would shine brilliantly in the midday sun, standing out of the regular gold alloy buildings that usually composed Iacon. It was the new seat of the reformed Senate, while the Decagon became the new headquarters of the Autobots-complete with the iconic red insignia that could be found in nearly every city that tolerated their presence.

Deep within the halls of the Decagon, inside the armory, Orion Pax was gearing for war. Not an ordinary war where ones’ enemies were out in the open and in front of you-but a war against ideals and a way of life that had caused so many people pain and suffering. A war for personal independence and identity that de-evolved into a war on rampant crime that increased since the Uprising.

He placed his trusty energon axe into a hip compartment and folded his barrage cannon into his back compartment. He flexed his arms and legs, feeling the hyper coil shock absorbers in his limbs tense and relax with ease. Despite looking the same, he felt different, stronger even. The medics and technicians who rebuilt him after facing down Steelheart had done a miraculous job in making him more powerful without sacrificing his size.

Orion lost count of how many times he was nearly dismantled, but he could remember two notable instances-the first was when he stood up to the Senate, publicly spitting in their faces, and the second was fighting against Steelheart in the chaotic battle in the Badlands.

Both times he had been rebuilt by the powers that be to serve them once again-to protect the citizens of not just Iacon, but the entire world now. To fight a more endemic corruption –terror. Megatron may have let tragedy take him from his former path, but Orion would not make the same mistake. He couldn’t afford to; not when so many looked up to him for protection, safety. He fought for the same cause Megatron had warped and abandoned, but he had changed. The events of the past two years had been rough on him, and his previous experiences in dealing with the hidden evils beneath Iacon’s shining splendor made Orion a bit jaded. It felt as if something in his had dimmed.

Regardless, he was Orion Pax, an officer of the law-an Autobot. All that mattered to him was honoring the oath he took and upholding Cybertron’s stability-and taking out anything or anyone that sought to undermine that.

When he was done prepping, he closed the weapons rack and looked at his reflection. Though he hadn’t aged at all (a trait reserved for only the oldest of his species) it felt like he grew older. There was a darkness in his gaze that wasn’t there when he was just a cop. His face looked harder, more defined. But his eyes were the same Matrix blue as the day he was forged. The eyes of a soldier.

Orion left the armory and marched toward the main hall. It was time to rollout.

XXXXXX

The Orbital Torus states were a group of city-states that were located around the equator. There were at least a dozen of them, but the most notable states that came to mind upon mention were Uraya, Polyhex and Altihex; major population centers with tons of history behind them. But there were also lesser known states that were known for their infamy. Cities that had a bad reputation shadowing them-like Nyon.

Orion led the Autobot strike team through the dank, dark streets of Nyon, a city that was so despondent that it made Kaon look like Iacon. The streets were oily and slippery from grime that built up over the centuries, the buildings looked like they were either about to fall apart or were on the verge of a major blackout, and the people who lived here looked depressed and sad. Some of them even looked like they were missing limbs and parts and only lumbered down the streets like zombies. Their eyes were dead, soulless, and they were devoid of life…devoid of hope.

It was a sight that was becoming increasingly familiar to Orion these days.

But sadly, he couldn’t worry about them now. He was on a mission; an assault on a smuggling ring dealing weapons with the locals stolen from the Militia store. His ground team consisted of Hound, Prowl, Elita-1 and Ironhide. The smuggling operation was being run by a high profile target that had been giving authorizes a lot of grief for the past year, and Nyon was the perfect place to get lost in the crowd.

“Hound, sit rep.” Orion said.

“We’re zeroing in on our target, sir.” Hound said. “I an almost smell him.”

“Bout time! I was getting tired of all this camouflage and sneaking around.” Ironhide grumbled.

“Primus, I knew Nyon was a bad place but…look at them. I’ve seen old recordings of Nyon and it was a shining city back then.” Elita-1 said.

“That was then, this is now. This place went to the dogs after the Functionists started cleaning this place for Shanix during Nominus’s early years.” Hound said. “I heard that they’ve been purging certain types of bots with alt modes that they saw as useless and starved the people for their “heretical” actions. Since then, this place started declining and the senate thought it was useless to fix what they thought was already broken.”

“This isn’t right.” She muttered.

“Locals here feel the government failed them, Elita-1. That we left all left them to rust.” Prowl said apathetically. “Anyone could be an enemy.”

“So the citizens we’re supposed to protect are guilty until proven innocent?” She growled.

“If they’re dissidents, there’s only one way to deal with them- line ‘em up and blow ‘em to sweet smithereenes!” Ironhide laughed.

“Well, I certainly see you aren’t one of the smarter bots on the force, Ironide.” Elita-1 muttered. “The least you could do is act civilized, you brute.”

They turned down a few more streets before pulling to a stop outside a building that was said to be where the smuggling was going down. Orion signaled his Autobots to transform and asked Hound about their quarry.

“This is it, sir!” Hound confirmed. “Transponder’s signal is just inside.”

Orion nodded and turned to his team, pulling out his barrage cannon. “Remember, out target is a known Decepticon arms dealer. He’s been moving stolen munitions through Nyon’s sleeper cells. Prowl, Elita-tactical positions. Cover all exits. Ironhide and Hound, you’re with me.” He cocked his gun and walked towards the door. “Let’s bag him and cuff him.”

XXXXXX

Swindle was first and foremost a mech of action. He was no warrior or ruler, and certainly no politician, but he was a businessman at heart and he put business before everything, and let the money do the talking. The various deals he had been running with the Decepticon cells across the planet for high grade weapons was probably the best deal he had in a long time. Those mindless grunts were making him millions by the week!

“Like I said, these are grade-A, state of the art phase charges!” Swindle waved an arm at the large crates full of guns and bombs. “Nothin’ better than blowin’ up the government with its own ordnance!”

The Nyonian buyer grunted at the weapons. “Look, we hate Prime and her flunkies just as much as you, but those prices, Swindle…”

“Revolutions aren’t cheap, friend. But if you boys cause enough-“

The sales pictch was cut short when the wall exploded and Orion stormed into the room with Ironhide and Hound. The mere sight of the most famous mech in the northern hemisphere sent the criminals scattering in panic at the surprise raid.

“Aw slag. Autobots!” Swindle cried.

“Damn fool Decepticon! You led them right to us!” The Nyonian shouted and took up a phase charger. “You’ll never take us alive, Autobot scum!”

Orion pointed his gun at the mech while calling Elita-1. “Do you have the shot, Elita?”

_“Roget that, Pax.”_

“Take him out.”

Swindle gave the least manliest scream as his client’s head exploded from a bullet ripping is skull open like a tin can. That little display of gore sparked the fight between the Autobots and criminals. Ironhide and Elita-1 flooded in from the other exists, and she telekinetically blocked the exits with psi-shields.

“Give it up, Swindle!” Orion yelled. “There’s no way out of here!”

“Wanna bet?” Swindle grinned. He sprinted from his cover and ran past Ironhide and Hound, transformed and jumping out the hole he made in the wall. He fell almost a story from the middle floor of the building, but his large tires took the brunt of his impact on the ground and sped down the street.

“Damn! Silverbolt, are you in position?” Orion asked, shooting down a gunman.

“I got him, sir.” Silverbolt of the Aerialbots said from his position above Nyon’s skyline. His radar quickly spotted Swindle driving like a mad man through the streets.

He swooped in low and fired his proton cannons at Swindle. The dealer swerved through the street, even driving on the sidewalk to escape Silverbolt’s assault. It was effective, as Silverbolt was forced to cut off his attack to avoid hitting bystanders. Thinking fast, he fired a heat seeking missile at Swindle and cheered when he saw his projectile hit Swindle in the rear, knocking him out of his alt mode and sent him into a steel curb. Silverbolt reported his position to the team, who were already on ground and driving toward him.

Swindle looked up and saw Orion’s team coming down the street. “That all you got Autobots?” swindle spat and took out two path blasters, shooting wildly in the Autobots general direction. “Bring it!”

Elita-1 changed forms and formed a tk barrier in front of the civilians to protect them from Swindle’s wild blasts. “He’s blind firing! Watch yourselves!”

“Protect the civilians!” Prowl yelled, taking cover behind a sign post.

“That’s a joke!” Swindle grinned, focusing his shots on Elita-1 and Ironhide. “You and Prime are the ones crushing these people under your heels every day!”

Swindle’s wild shooting forced the Autobots to stay their hand or risk getting taken out by a lucky shot from the insane mech. Fortunately, Swindle never noticed that Orion wasn’t with his team. He didn’t see Orion jumping off a rooftop above him and didn’t even notice the mech until the Autobot landed on top of him. His weight crushed Swindle underfoot and smashed him into the concrete.

“It’s you who’ll be crushed, Decepticon!” Pax growled. He turned Swindle onto his back and got a wad of fluid spat in his face, which earned Swindle a quick punch to the nose. “You’re under arrest, Swindle, and you’re going to tell us everything about Megatron and his terror cells!”

“You’ll never find us all…for all your firepower, you can’t fight what we represent!” Swindle cackled, smiling through bloodied teeth. “A new age! A new way for all cybertronians!”

“An age of murder and anarchy!” Orion snarled and punched Swindle in the jaw. “Your friends can’t hide from justice forever!”

The onlookers watched in horror as Orion pummeling Swindle into the ground, bloodying the mech’s face with each blow, shattering one of his optic lens and chipping off a piece of his teeth. Pax was consumed in a mad haze, punching and punching, not giving Swindle any mercy. Energon clung to his fists with each punch and despite the pain he was suffering from, Swindle was still grinning up at him.

Once he was done, Orion glared down at Swindle’s bloody face. “I hope I made my point.”

“You don’t see it. You’re so hell bent no stopping the Decepticons…take a look around you-you and your system made us what we are. All these people, they’re Decepticons now.” Swindle said weakly, giving a weak little laugh. “Face it, Autobot-You’re not just part of the problem…you are the problem.”

Orion sneered and took out his barrage cannon, pressing the barrel against Swindle’s square optics. Even then, Swindle continued taunting him. “Go head…prove me right!”

Orion fully intended to pull the trigger and shut him up for good. But just as his finger made to pull the trigger, he felt his entire arm seize up by an invisible force. He was puzzled when he lost control of his arm and looked up at Elita-1, who was marching towards him, looking angry as hell. Orion wasn’t in the right mind to be cowed by her female fury.

“Elita, are you out of your-“

“You bear an unarmed captive right in front of these people!” she shouted in his face. “It’s no wonder they hate us!”

“I used what necessary force to-“

“No, you lost control.” Elita-1 cut him off, glaring up at him. She wrenched the gun from him and cuffed Swindle. “We’ll talk about this later. Now transform so we can load him up.”

Ironhide whistled at the exchange as Orion transformed and attached the containment trailer to his fender. “Girls’ got him by the bearings.”

“With everything that’s been going on with him, I don’t blame her.” Hound remarked.

“Enough chatter. Let’s head back to Sky Lynx.” Prowl said.

The Autobots reverted to their vehicle modes and drove down the street, away from the growing agitated crowd, fully aware of the scathing looks sent their way. As they left, they were unaware of the bird-like creature watching them from atop a building. Once they were out of view, he flew off his perch in the opposite direction. Megatron was going to like this.

XXXXXX

Torenia was starting to regret becoming a senator. The dark blue and indigo femme with a hovercraft alt mode sat in the council chamber of the Citadel where a high security meeting was taking place. She sat in the front row with Xaaron, Halogen and Golbax as Zeta Prime gave her speech to the “new” senate. Yet another impassioned speech about weeding out the “disease” that kept them from truly healing Cybertron from Sentinel’s corruption.

“Gentlemen, Cybertron is on the brink.” Zeta Prime declared. Her form was a bright ivory mixed with indigo, the same colors as Nova Prime, making her stand out in the darkness of the chamber. Her upgraded body was supposed to make her into a living symbol amongst her peers, have them marvel at her majesty, but the senators, Torenia included, only felt uncomfortable being near her. “As if the energon crisis isn’t enough, Megatron and his Decepticons have spread terror and dissent across six Torus States. It’s unfortunate that my predecessor Sentinel was too weak and inefficient to properly handle this upstart rebellion, but rest assured, I will break Megatron and restore order to this world!”

“And yet your Autobots fail to find him!” Golbax said. “The local populace hides their terror cells!”

“Then we shall root them out.” Zeta said, turning her gleaming gaze onto the senator. “Consorting with terrorists is against the law, the highest form of treason. We’re sacrificing everything to preserve their freedom and ideals, and this is how they pay us? Those fools down there either help the Decepticons or hide in their homes hoping this will blow over. The people are either with us…or against us.”

“You were chosen as Prime to serve the people of Cybertron-not oppress them! They’re afraid of you, Zeta. Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing here, using intimidation to cow the people into supporting you.” Halogen shook his head. “Honestly, such actions make you no better than Proteus. This isn’t leadership, its dominance!”

Zeta looked at her like she was some protoforms who said something stupid and didn’t realize it. Torenia hated that look in her eyes; the look that said everyone but her was wrong and didn’t know how to do their jobs. She chuckled and shook her head.

“Come now, senator. The time for naiveté has passed. Thanks to the last council of fools, the common cybertronian despises you and your effete influence,” Zeta pointed to the southern hemisphere of the planetary holo-display. “Especially here, Nyon. The Decepticons recruit freely from its population and they openly speak of rebellion and terrorism as if we won’t do a damn thing to them. They thought they were safe in that useless slum of theirs. But they’re wrong; at long last we have prepared a weapon that can eradicate this disease once and for all!”

The holo-display changed to show a long, spiky grey cannon that was almost as long as Zeta’s arm. “The Vamparc Ribbon. Designed long ago by one of Cybertron’s greatest minds, Jhiaxus, its primary drawback is that it requires a tremendous amount of power.”

Xarron narrowed his eyes. “Where are we to find this power, then?”

“It lies within us, senator.”

The doors slammed open and Starscream entered the chamber with a cocky smile on his face. “I’m sorry, I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

Zeta frowned at the Seeker commander/ liason. “Delegate Starscream. Still fond of your dramatic overtones, I see.”

Starscream shrugged. “Not all of us have your natural commanding presence, great Prime. But please, don’t let me interrupt.”

“Watch your tone with me, delegate.” Zeta said firmly. “While politics dictates that these senators tolerate your presence, I am under no such constraint.”

Starscream grinned but said no more as he quickly took his seat, placing a blue audio device on the desk next to him. “I am here only to observe, Prime. In these dangerous times, information is of the highest equity.”

“Agreed. That is why I’ve chosen the demonstrate the vamparc’s effectiveness.” Zeta pressed a button and the floor opened up to allow a platform to rise up, with a battered mech restrained to a chair sitting in place. “On our new Decepticon informant.”

Starscream blinked at this unexpected surprise. “Swindle.”

“Do you know this terrorist, Starscream?” zeta asked sharply.

Starscream remained calm under her piercing gaze and replied, “I am familiar with his…illegal dealings. But like all enemies of the state-he must be dealt with in kind.”

XXXXXX

Orion’s mood hadn’t improved since returning to Iacon. Elita-1 was beyond angry with him, again, and he was still seething from Swindle’s verbal jabs. He need to vent his frustration in a productive way, she the second best option was sparring in the gym. And that involved fighting Ultra Magnus.

Ultra Magnus was a veteran of the Quintesson wars, a member of the elite guard who

“Come on, Magnus-is that the best you’ve got?” Orion grunted, grappling with the larger mech. Orion had a few upgrades to his frame thanks to Zeta, but it was nothing too drastic to his appearance, just enough to increase his physical abilities. Granted, one needed to be really sturdy to take on a heavyset mech like Ultra Magnus.

“You’re the ranking officer here, Pax. I don’t want to hurt you.” Ultra Magnus said, pushing against Orion.

“If I’ve learned anything from fighting Decepticons these past mega-cycles,” Orion said, throwing a punch at Magnus’s head before leaping back to avoid his grab. He grabbed his arm and threw Ultra Magnus into the ground. “It’s that holding back will only get you killed.”

“You asked for it, then!”

Ultra Magnus pushed himself up and rushed at Orion. Orion knew better than to try to outclass Ultra Magnus in terms of raw strength, instead choosing to avoid the punches sent at him and waited for the right moment to strike. When Ultra Magnus threw a right hook at his face, Orion grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, forcing Magnus to his knees and subduing him.

“Go easy, Pax!” Ultra Magnus grunted, wincing from the force being put on his arm. Orion wasn’t usually this aggressive during training. “Calm down! No need to be so forceful.”

Orion realized he was using more force in his moves than was necessary and quickly let Ultra Magnus go. “Sorry.”

Ultra Magnus stood up and looked at his comrade and friend. “What’s going on with you? Your temper has been more off key than usual and it’s setting everyone on edge.”

“I don’t know. I…” Orion gave a tired sigh and rubbed the back of his head. “Swindle’s interrogation didn’t give us any real leads. We’re no closer to finding any of the Decepticon leadership than we were two years ago. No leads on Megatron, Nightshade, not even Soundwave. I feel like I’m failing, Magnus.”

Ultra Magnus placed a large hand on Orion’s shoulder. “This Decepticon business has been rough on everyone. Once we take down Megatron, this whole thing will blow over.”

“Or we’ll make a martyr of him. Nightshade and Soundwave are no slouches when it comes to leading revolutions.” Orion said bitterly. Talking about Megatron still left a bad taste in his mouth. Two years of fighting since the Decepticons annexed the Badlands and the nearby territories and all they got was a bitter populous that hates the senate, the Prime and anyone working with them.

There was a time where Orion worked with Zeta to reform the social system and abolish functionism and the Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy, reshaping the senate into a council full of representatives from the various castes in the city-states; but overtime, as the Decepticons grew in power and became a real threat, Zeta’s attention went from making the planet a better, more equal place to annihilating any form of dissent in her society, ranging from the Decepticons to practically anyone who took up arms against the government.

Yes, the senate was composed of less corrupted individuals, but they were paper tigers compared to the Prime herself. Zeta inducted herself into the position with Orion’s support and help, using a fake matrix to cement herself as having the Affinity. She sought to use her power to make the planet a more decent place to live, but her attitude took a sharp decline. She worked hard to make Cybertron great again, to fix the damage the old senate and Sentinel had caused, but the Decepticons had caused too many problems for her to ignore and eventually the stress of it all started getting to her head. She became obsessed with wiping out the Decepticons, and above all, hanging Megatron by his t-cog.

Zeta developed a short temper, became prone to fits of anger, wild outbursts and tangled with Orion on too many occasions on her aggressive policies regarding aiding the Decepticons and rebelling against the senate. Sometimes, Orion thought that if he pushed her hard enough, she’d kill him on the spot. There was nothing left of that patriotic femme who gave him a chance to defeat Steelheart and Sentinel.

“All this fighting and all we’re getting is the hatred of the entire populace. No praise but scorn. Not even a simple thank you.” Orion walked to the doorway. “Ultra Magnus, haven’t you seriously asked yourself…if we’re even on the right side?”

XXXXXX

The vamparc ribbon was a wicked looking weapon that looked even more menacing in person. It was long and sharp, fitting over Zeta’s hand as she grabbed hold of it. She walked over to the barely conscious Swindle, who was still awake thanks to the circuit boosters injected into his systems.

“Swindle of Mytharc, you’ve given us useless information on your fellow Decepticons,” Zeta activated the weapon and smirked behind her face plate as she felt it hum to life. A crimson glow emanated from the visible power lines along the ribbon, bathing her face in an eerie blood red hue. “Now…are you prepared to serve the Autobot cause?”

Swindle spat at her. “I ain’t got nothin’ left to say to you.”

“Ah, that time has passed!” She said gleefully. She glanced back at the uncomfortable senators. “As I explained, the vamparc units require a great deal of power. Luckily they draw that power from the nearest available source.”

The vamparc ribbon fired multiple bolts of dark red energy from its barrel and hit Swindle. The scream he gave as lanced of energy tore at his body made even Starscream wince and look away. The soft blue of the chamber was overrun by the crimson light of the ribbon and Zeta’s eyes showed nothing but sadistic glee at the torture of the Decepticon. Once she was done a minute later, Zeta held up the weapon for all to see.

“You see? The weapon is primed, but its energy is somewhat volatile.” Zeta pointed it at the ceiling and fired a powerful beam that tore a large hole in the roof, sending sparks raining down on the chamber. She grinned at their shock and awe…and fear.

“Draining combatants in this way, in addition to the ribbon’s devastating effect, creates a perfect circuit of death. Senators, this is the weapon of our time,” zeta explained. “Unfortunately, the larger industrial units-like those we’ve recently outfitted on the Omega Sentinels-require far greater power.”

“Omega Sentinels? When did you outfit them with the vamparc weapons?” Halogen asked, surprised that Zeta even had thought this far ahead with the project.

“And who gave you authorization to mass produce the weapons in the first place?” Torenia scowled. Zeta glared at her.

“I didn’t think that I needed permission to defend the well being and safety of our way of life, Torenia.” She spat.

“What concerns me is where will you find the energy for such cost-effective weapons.” Xaaron said, realizing what this might entail after seeing Swindle’s energy get used to fuel the small-scale ribbon.

Zeta hummed in thought, tapping her chin coyly. “I thought we might borrow it from our erstwhile citizens.”

“Surely you must be joking.” Halogen scowled. “We can’t just kill thousands to fuel a bunch of fancy guns! If the people weren’t on the verge of rebelling against us already, then they will be once they learn about this unholy abomination!”

“Ahem,” Starscream raised his hand. “I’m also curious as to how you’ll convince the populace to volunteer their precious energon.”

“Volunteer? I fear you misunderstand me.” Zeta glared darkly at Starscream. “I propose we simply reach out and take it-after we’ve burned their wretched dissident enclaves to the ground. if those fools are willing to join terrorists, then they all must die for their treason!”

“Even still, they’re civilians!” Halogen argued.

“Anyone who raises arms against the senate is an enemy of the state and will be dealt with accordingly. I won’t let two years of work be destroyed by some Galvatron knock-off and his merry band of revolutionaries.”

“This is unthinkable.” Torenia shook her head. This was insane-Zeta was going too far. “The people will turn on you the moment you enact such a plan!”

The smile Torenia knew Zeta was giving her sent shivers up her spinal unit. “Ah, but it has already begun, senator. The sector-wide siphoning began six months ago-right under the dissidents’ noses. And the test area we chose…was Nyon.”

XXXXXX

Orion spent his afternoon in the shooting range on the third floor of the Citadel. He was alone and had some time to himself as he continued shooting his neutron assault rifle at a holographic bust of Megatron’s face. Even now, just thinking about him sent Orion’s biopulse skyrocketing.

Next week would mark two years since that fateful day, the day that forever haunted his life. The day he was forced to kill Elmeth as an act of mercy and robbed Megatron of the only person he loved. Pax still had wavering nightmares about that day. Since then, everything had gone downhill. Now it felt like everything he did was just making things worse. The people were fed up with the senate, with the lingering Functionists, and the Decepticons were taking advantage of this to increase their numbers.

‘Zeta’s not helping things either. She’s so damn set on hunting down any threats to her position that she’s willing to set the planet aflame just to make sure no more weeds sprout. I’m sure she’d have no problem sending me into the damn fire as well.’ Orion thought. ‘What do I do?’

He took up a photon rifle and pulled the trigger. When he felt something keeping the trigger from moving, he sighed and placed the rifle down. “What is it, Elita?”

Elita-1 walked into the room and stood next to him, within reaching distance of the guns. Orion made sure to keep those away from her in case things get…testy. “So, we going to talk about what you did earlier?”

“Elita…” He groaned.

“No, don’t. You assaulted a suspect in full view of the public in a city where being affiliated with the senate is a death sentence. You were lucky they were too scared to riot on us when you pulled a gun on him.” She said.

“What do you want from me?”

“I want to know what’s going on with you.” Her expression softened and she placed a hand on his face. “Orion, you’ve been short tempered lately, and it has me worried. You’re tense all the time and you barely sleep in your spare time. Just tell me what’s eating you.”

“What is there to say, Elita? I’m fed up with being led around in circles. We raid a Decepticon cell, another sprout up half way around the world. We apprehend a key figure and get frag all for our efforts. The public hates us for protecting them, while the Decepticons are praised as heroes for bombing unsuspecting public areas and Megatron is sitting back laughing at us with a glass of Fulcrum!”

He ran a hand down his face. “Don’t even get me started with Zeta. She starts implementing curfews and random searches on bots she thinks are Decepticons because they look scary, and I’m the one to blame for our lack of support? She offers no neutral ground to the civilians and has the gall to treat me like slag, despite being the one who put her in that damn chamber of hers.”

“Orion, Zeta’s unstable. We all know that. She’s obsessed with hunting down Megatron and it’s made her a little…antsy. The only thing we can do is…”

“Grit our teeth and bare with it, I know.” He said. “It just feels like everything I’ve done up to this point was for nothing. Functionism and the caste system still exist, we’re on the verge of a large scale civil conflict, and now we’re facing an energon crisis. Everything’s falling apart and I don’t know what to do.”

Elita-1 frowned and gave him some half-hearted encouragement when Ultra Magnus stepped into the room. “Pax, Zeta Prime has ordered all strike teams to be on ready alert.”

“Already? But it’s hardly been a day!” Elita-1 complained.

“I know,” Ultra Magnus said apologetically. “But Zeta wants all teams to be deployed once she’s done with the meeting. We might be heading back to Nyon as well.”

“I’m not surprised. I’m hearing she’s planning on something big.” Orion said. “And it might involve deploying the Omega Sentinels.”

“Primus, you don’t think she’ll actually let them loose on a city without provocation, do you?” She asked.

“Let’s hope that isn’t the case, Elita.” Orion said grimly. “Magnus gather the team and be ready to roll out on my order.”

“Yes sir.” Ultra Magnus nodded.

XXXXXX

The senate was in an uproar as they heard Zeta Prime’s declaration. Many senators were enraged, among them Torenia and Halogen.

“This is an outrage!” Halogen roared. “A Prime’s authority cannot be-“

“I’m doing what I must to fix the mess you let Sentinel and his faction cause after usurping Nominus.” Zeta said coldly. “A mess the senate had a hand in, and we fixed two years ago, Halogen. I’m just sending the message that if the populace is willing to side with a bunch of anarchic tyrants against me, then I will meet their treachery with retribution.”

“You’re no better than Megatron!” Halogen spat. That garnered agreeing murmurs from the other senators, but they were quickly silenced by the angry gleam in Zeta’s eyes.

Starscream leaned in towards Halogen. “Easy, Halogen. What is the loss of a few dissident sectors compared to defeating these vile Decepticons?” He smirked.

Zeta’s large form marched over to the podium and leaned down until she was staring into Starscream’s eyes. “I must admit my surprise, Starscream. I didn’t think you’d have the stomach for such an operation like your sister.”

“Please,” He snorted. “I’ve done worse in the name of-“ Starscream cut himself off before he could say anything stupid, but Zeta caught his slipup.

“What did you say?” She growled, her hand catching his wrist in a bone crushing grip.

“Ah, what I meant to say was, um…” Starscream knew he was in a bad position, and did the first thing he could think of…snitch. “Look there, a Decepticon spy!”

The Decepticon Soundwave transformed from his data player into his bipedal mode and ran for the doors as his location was compromised. The other senators immediately scattered to avoid him as Zeta tried to fire the vamparc ribbon, but all it did was shoot out a few sparks.

“It’s overheated!” Zeta snarled. “Stop him, you fools! Seal all access points and contain him within the Citadel!”

Soundwave flipped over Starscream, planting a foot on the Seeker’s face as he sprinted for the doors, paying no heed to the frightened senators. His freedom was ironically assisted by Orion Pax, who ran into the room upon hearing the commotion.

“Zeta, is there a situation in here? The alarm’s been sounded and I-whoa!” Orion grunted as Soundwave pushed him aside as he ran into the hallway and fired two rockets from his shoulder cannon at the window.

He jumped out the shattered window and fell two stories before deploying Laserbeak from his chest. The avian mech took hold of Soundwave’s wrist and slowed his descent the rest of the way, allowing his master to land safely on the ground before returning to his chest cavity. Soundwave sprinted out of the courtyard as the security forces assembled behind him. Zeta and Orion watched him run with displeased looks.

“If the secrets that Decepticon stole wind up in the public’s hands…” Zeta scowled and looked at Orion. “Orion, you’re my best officer. Gather your team and retrieve that data! Let nothing stand in your way!”

“I’ll bring him back, sir,” Orion promised, cock his gun. “Dead or alive.”


	2. Cause and Effect

Chapter 2-Cause and Effect

Orion stood before his assembled team, his lucky face plate in place as he briefed them on the situation.

“Our target is Soundwave, a high ranking member of Megatron’s inner circle. He’s on the run and carrying classified intel. Our job is to make sure he never delivers it.” He explained.

“With Iacon’s air defenses, there’s no way he can call for extraction. If he’s on foot, I’ll find him!” Hound said.

“Then we put the hurt on him!” Ironhide growled. “I’m tired of these Decepticreeps making us look like chumps.”

“You’ll get your shot soon, Ironhide.” Orion said. “Autobots, roll out!”

Orion ordered all available Autobot teams to cover the access routes in and out of the city. There was a high chance of Soundwave taking the shortest route to Kaon through supply lines that ran through Praxus near the Badlands’ borders. Orion, Elita-1 and Prowl monitored the most direct route to Altihex.

“Any intel on our mech, Pax?” Prowl asked.

“Soundwave is very high in the Decepticon hierarchy, he’s a master spy and he was Nightshade’s partner throughout their private war against the Functionists.” Orion explained. “Chances are he was responsible for massacring the old senate in Kaon with the aid of Megatron and some unknown accomplices. Nobody who witnessed the killings lived so we don’t know what to expect.”

“And on a more personal note?” Prowl inquired further. Orion was silent a bit before answering.

“Soundwave has lived his entire life fighting and running with Nightshade. He knows how to evade the authorities and he’s well versed in combat too. I suggest taking care to watch your back to make sure he doesn’t show any surprises.”

Locating Soundwave was harder than they thought. The Autobots were spread thin into teams of two hunting one bot in a city as large Iacon. Zeta put the entire city on lockdown, but it was going to take time to reroute mag-trains set to travel out of the city. But thankfully Silverbolt found their target after almost an hour of searching.

“Hound, Chromedome, I’m over your position and got a visual on the target!” He reported. “He’s heading east through the factory district!”

“Roger that ‘Bolt. We have him in sight and moving to intercept.” Hound said.

On the ground, Soundwave was running through the crowded streets, pushing people aside as he headed toward the railways that crisscrossed the city skyline. Chromedome transformed and leapt up, throwing an EMP grenade at Soundwave. It missed him, but detonated close enough to catch Soundwave’s right leg in an EMP wave. It’s effects were immediate and Soundwave stumbled, turning on his heel and firing two rockets at Chromedome, who jumped to the side. When Hound appeared on the scene, Soundwave knew he had to act fast.

“Ravage, eject!” Soundwave deployed his black feline proxy from his chest, who transformed from his data disk form and lunged at the two Autobots. Ravage leapt onto Chromedome, digging his claws into his side just under his left arm. Chromedome grunted and threw him off, only for Ravage to land on Hound’s hood and start ripping and tearing at him as well. Hound instinctively transformed to get him off and Ravage leapt off him to run back to Soundwave, his job done.

From his position above them, Silverbolt saw it all. “Chromedome and Hound are down!” He said. “Target is heading towards the aerospace bridge!”

Prowl and Ironhide were zeroing in on that area, moving to intercept Soundwave from both sides. “This is Prowl, we’re moving in on the target. Don’t lose sight of him, Silverbolt!”

Soundwave saw their pincer maneuver and knew that without proper weapons, they’ll subdue him in minutes. But the best defense was a devastating offense. “Rumble, eject!”

The small mech ejected from his chest cavity and hardened his already large arms into their pile driver forms, slamming them into the ground. He channeled powerful vibrations from his inner core through his arms into the ground, generating intense quakes that rattled the area around him. The vibrations grew stronger the more they traveled out, and they were absolutely devastating to the bridge above them. The supports weren’t built to handle the localized quake and began to shake and groan, the tensile metal bracings beginning to groan from the strain of holding the bridge up.

“Prowl, hit the brakes!” Ironhide yelled. “The whole place is falling apart!”

“Eat this Autobots!” Rumble increased his vibrations to the point where even Soundwave found it hard to remain upright. It was too much for the bridge to handle and the support columns began to crumble.

Prowl and Ironhide watched horrified as they saw the bridge break apart and collapse, taking with it the hundreds of transformed bots driving along the highway atop it. A large section of the bridge crashed to the street below, sending debris falling on top of Ironhide and Prowl, who were barely able to avoid being crushed underneath by the bulk of the debris that killed dozens of civilians. Even still, they were caught under the rocks and immobilized. Once Rumble was done, Soundwave picked him up and ran from the disaster zone.

“Rumble just brought down a bridge. Multiple causalities listed. I’ve got eyes on our boys, but I lost sight of Soundwave.”

“Silverbolt, call Ultra Magnus and have him send emergency teams to the aerospace bridge. If Soundwave stays on course, then chances are that he’s heading for the marketplace.” Orion said as he and Elita-1 drove down the street on Soundwave’s trail.

The Iaconian marketplace was where bots from the artisan and manual castes would gather to sell their wares. Slowly, the pair drove through the thick of the crowd, searching for signs of the dark blue mech. Silverbolt’s assistance made it easier when Orion spotted Soundwave’s familiar frame amongst the crowed and he sped forward to lunge at him. Orion changed forms and crashed into Soundwave, knocking him onto the sidewalk. Soundwave kicked Orion off and jumped to his feet, deploying another proxy from his chest.

“Frenzy, eject. Initiate mass hysteria!” He commanded.

“Let’s make some noise!” Frenzy’s arms shifted into radar dishes and released powerful sonic waves into the crowd around them. These sonic waves were high pitched and painful to the audio sensors, but their main effect was to increase the aggressive tendencies within a bot’s processer and turn them into enraged lunatics. Frenzy had no problem inducing madness in an already paranoid and stressed populace with two Autobots in their midst.

“What the hell?” Orion yelled as the people around him began swarming them, throwing punches and kicks and shouting insults at his face.

“The officers don’t care who gets hurt in their war!”

“Get out of here!”

“You can’t protect us!”

“Have you people gone insane?” Orion hissed, pushed to his knees by the growing pile on him. “Stop this! I don’t want to hurt you!”

“I don’t think they care about that, Orion.” Elita-1 said, forming a tk shield around them to keep the mob from swarming them.

Soundwave turned his attention from the mob to the Aerialbot circling above him. He wordlessly deployed Laserbeak and had him fly up at the Autobot. Without any command from Soundwave, Laserbeak fired his laser cannons into Silverbolt’s underside, taking out his fuselage and thrusters.

“Where did you come from?” Silverbolt grunted. He tried shooting down Laserbeak, but the bird bot avoided his pulse blasts and fired another blast into his wing, causing him to drop like a rock. “Guys, I’m going down!”

Silverbolt crashed through a neon sign before hitting the ground and skidding through the sheet metal of the street. He reverted to robot mode and landed on his back, severely damaged and unconscious. Soundwave heard a loud bang and saw that Elita-1 had used her force shield to blast the rabid mob off her and Orion. He took back Frenzy and transformed to his smaller alt mode, allowing Laserbeak to grab him in the air and fly him over to a cargo train passing overhead.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Elita-1 growled and fired her grappling hook onto the train, allowing it to pull her along.

“Wait, Elita, don’t go alone!” Orion shouted after her. He cursed and switched forms to drive after the train.

On top of the train, Soundwave was in his robot mode kneeling on the high speed train that was no doubt heading outside the city. He hoped to at least reach the outskirts of Iacon and go the rest of the way on foot via the secret tunnels and passageways he had mapped out years ago. He went to look oer the side to make sure he lost the Autobots, but stopped when he felt a mental tug on his mind before leaping to the side to avoid a metal spike that was thrown at him from behind.

Elita-1 had jumped over the side and landed on the train, shooting pieces of sharp metal filaments at Soundwave. The spymaster took out a laser staff and skillfully deflected the fragments with expert movements akin to a master martial artist, and rushed Elita-1. She flipped over his head and tore up a large piece of the train’s hull, throwing it at Soundwave. He kicked it away, but she fired a force blast into his chest that almost knocked him off the train. At this height and moving at this speed, falling off was the last thing he wanted to happen.

Glancing at Elita-1, he flexed his right arm and brought out a long, sharp blade from his wrist and charged at her. He slashed at her face and chest, but she dodged his attacks and took out a short sword of her own, moving to stab him in the chest. He grabbed her arm and tried to throw her off, but she telekinetically moved herself to come flying back at him, burying her feet into his chest in a hard kick. Soundwave fell onto his back but rolled to his feet, watching Elita-1 leap at him with her sword in hand. Expecting him to attack her, she was surprised when he simply sidestepped and allowed her to fly right past him.

“Frag!” She cursed as she crashed head first through a window and into a little energon shop, crashing into a table and landing on her face.

The patrons who were just enjoying their day looked at her in shock, especially the two femmes who were just having a calm day out just seconds ago. Elita-1 got to her knees and gave them a sheepish little smile.

“Um…my bad?”

XXXXXX

The journey to the border between Mytharc and Kalis was shortened thanks to Soundwave’s knowledge of the terrain and his use of the natural tunnels that cut straight through the areas he knew was on high alert for his presence. It was night now and he was limping to Mytharc’s territory still sporting his wounds from Elita-1’s earlier assault.

‘I must initiate auto-repairs.’ Soundwave thought. ‘They must hold until I can reach Nightsha-‘

Something slammed hard into his back and sent him to the ground. It was Orion Pax. Soundwave tried to deploy Laserbeak, but a hard punch to his chest dented his cavity and jammed his launching mechanism.

“That’s enough of that.” Orion growled.

“Don’t be overconfident!” Soundwave grabbed Orion’s rifle and smacked him in the face with it. Orion stumbled back and the spymaster rushed him, throwing both of them into a crevice near them.

Orion got to his feet and was almost impaled by Soundwave’s wrist blade. The Con slashed at his face and chest, and Orion deftly avoided his attacks. Pax grabbed his sword arm and stabbed it into the rock wall, kneeing Soundwave in the torso and punching him in the face repeatedly. Soundwave deflected his fists and punched his jaw, only for Orion to spin around and bury the blade of his energon axe into his shoulder. The red hot blade melted into the metal of his shoulder joint and the pain momentarily blinded Soundwave, allowing Orion to elbow him in the face hard enough to crack his visor and knock him out.

“And stay down.” Orion panted, pulling his axe out of Soundwave’s shoulder.

“Orion!” Hound called out as he and the others ran to join him. “Thank Primus, I knew we’d find you! I followed your trail from the service depot.”

“Sorry we missed the party,” Chromedome said, pressing a hand to his bleeding side. Elita-1 was already welding his wounds with a little heat torch to stem the bleeding.

“Wow,” Ironhide whistled, looking at the battered forms of Orion and Soundwave. “Looks like he put up one hell of a fight.”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle.” Orion said dryly. “Ironhide, change into your carrier mode. Let’s get this slagheap up and head back to-“

“Not so fast, Pax.”

Orion felt a gun pressed to the back of his head. He glanced back and saw Nightshade standing behind him with a squad of Seekers, their weapons pointed at all of them.

“Soundwave’s one of us. You ain’t taking him anywhere.” Skywarp said.

“You’re interfering with a sanctioned manhunt.” Orion said.

“You Autobots are pretty far from home. This ain’t your jurisdiction no more.” Ramjet smirked.

Orion made to draw his axe, but Nightshade stopped him with a sharp bonk to his head. “Easy now. We’re here for a reason other than Soundwave. Its Megatron…he wants to have a quick word with you. It’s just a little sit-down. Then you can go.”

“Yeah right.” Orion growled.

“You might be able to escape this tussle.” She pointed her pulse rifle at the wounded Chromedome and Elita-1. “But if you try, I’m under orders to execute your friends. It’s your choice.”

“Don’t do it, Pax!” Ironhide yelled. “She’s spoutin’ slag! We all know it’s a trap!”

“Let the smart ones talk, old man.” Thundercracker hissed.

Nightshade turned Orion around and stared into his bright blue eyes, little more than a hair’s breath away from each other. “Well, Orion-what’s it going to be?”

XXXXXX

The place where Megatron wanted to “chat” was at a drinking hole in Mytharc called the Jump Point. It was a place where workers who slaved away at the forgeries and smelting pools would gather to drink away their exhaustion and sorrows, though despite its dingy appearance, the place sold some high quality drinks. Today, it was closed to the public, guarded by three Decepticon bruisers on Megatron’s orders so that he didn’t have any interruptions.

Orion Pax didn’t know what to think or do as he sat across the cleanly polished table from Megatron. The last time they had traded words with each other was two years ago, over Elmeth’s still body hours after Tarn’s destruction at the hands of the Kadesh. His last words to for him to leave and never return and Orion did just that. It would forever haunt him till his dying day. Tarn still hadn’t fully recovered from that attack and it would probably be years before the city could be close to repaired. The citizens had long since relocated to Kaon under Megatron’s leadership, rallying under his banner from the tragedy. They now knew who sent the beast to their city, and they wanted blood.

He noted Elita-1 being held hostage by Astrotrain and Blitzwing for his compliance, so Orion decided to play nice now. In the meantime, he studied his former friend.

Time hadn’t changed Megatron physically. He was still the same imposingly strong mech with gunmetal gray and black armor, with a bright purple Decepti-brand on his chest. A sleek black fusion cannon rested on his right forearm, a symbol of his power. His face looked slightly older and worn, and his orange red eyes burned brightly with unbridled hatred.

“So you bagged one of my officers just to tell me that Iacon’s corrupt?” Orion scowled. Seeing Megatron, the mech who made his job hell everyday for two years straight, made him angrier than normal. “I knew that back when you were still getting ener-jacked in slam.”

Megatron chuckled. “Beneath all the anger and cynicism, Orion, you’re still an idealist. You still believe you can change the system from within.”

“You don’t know a damn thing about me, Megatron.” He said. “And by the way, tell your mindless three form thug to go easy on Elita. She gets so much as a scratch, our little reunion gets heated.”

“Of course, it’d be a shame if things turned violent.” Megatron motioned for Blitzwing to remove the gun from Elita-1’s head. “Now, Orion, do you remember that momentous occasion back in the Decagon? When you stood up to the senate, challenged their authority-quoting from my own manifesto? I do, I thought ‘here’s someone with a vision! Someone I can work with!’”.

“I thought the same thing as you, until you started all that slag in Kaon. The Functionist council was dead, and we had proof of sentinel’s indiscretions, and you’ve managed to make the sacrifices of my friends worthless in just one night.” Orion huffed.

“I did what I had to for my revolution, Pax.”

“You’re a criminal posing as a revolutionary.”

“And you’re a revolutionary posing as a cop.” Megatron replied. “As I said, we could accomplish great things together.”

“Tell that to all those times you ignored my calls after sacking Kaon.”

Orion suddenly felt a message get beamed straight into his brain. “ _Pax, this is Ironhide. Keep stallin’ him-heavy transports’ inbound.”_

“You know I wasn’t in the mood to talk to you after what you did.” Megatron said darkly. “Let me ask you this-how do you think the insurgents knew where to hit you in Nyon? They were tipped from the inside.”

“Where are you going with this?”

Megatron raised his arm and Laserbeak flew onto the table. “Let me play you the data Soundwave procured. See for yourself; exhibit A: Starscream and Zeta Prime.”

Laserbeak projected the council session from a small camera in his head. Orion was shown everything, from the introduction of the vamparc ribbon to its live demonstration, and when he saw Zeta’s reply to Starscream’s inquiry about a power source, his gaze turned colder than the glacial plains of northern Cybertron.

“I never did trust Starscream.” He commented darkly.

“You’d be a fool to.” Megatron agreed.

“You went through a lot of trouble to show me this.” Orion said, staring directly into Megatron’s eyes. “Why? Why now?”

“Because Zeta Prime possesses a radical new weapons technology…and with it, she’ll kill everyone in Nyon, including us.”

Orion could see that Megatron was deadly serious and forced himself not to take the despot’s words at face value. “You’re reaching Megatron.”

“Am I? Let me connect the dots for you; Zeta set you up. She sent your team into Nyon knowing you’d be a target by insurgents. Your deaths would have been a pretext to invade. Has none of this occurred to you?”

“What the hell do you want from me?!” Orion yelled, now fed up with Megatron’s word games.

“I want you to accept that the true enemy is the autocracy you serve. I want you to help me bring it all crashing down.”

“That’s not why I formed the Autobots. That’s not why I led an assault on the Functionist Council.” Orion said. “I did all that to avoid this situation!”

He got another transmission from Ironhide. _“Transport’s holding overhead, Pax. Just give the signal.”_

“There’s only one thing I have to say to you, Megatron. Something I should’ve said after the Sundering of Tarn.”

Megatron scowled. “And what’s that?”

Orion gave his most honest reply. “I’m sorry.”

The apology actually caught Megatron off guard. This gave Orion the chance to kick the table at Megatron and draw his barrage cannon, firing a blast at Blitzwing’s chest that allowed Elita-1 to get free.

“Autobots attack!”

The roof was blasted in and Hound landed on the bar shooting down the surprised Cons. Prowl and Ironhide burst from the floor firing at Blitzwing and Astrotrain. Despite the rude interruption, Megatron couldn’t help but look at Orion impressed.

“Well played, Pax. I underestimated you.” He said.

“You usually do.” Orion replied. “Ironhide, now!”

Ironhide punched Astrotrain in the face and grabbed hold of Elita-1. “Come on, little lady. Say goodbye to your new friends.”

“Thanks for the save!” Elita-1 said before following Prowl and Hound out.

“Pax, move it!” Ironhide yelled at his commander.

“You’re lucky my team comes first.” Orion growled.

“Or what? You’d haul me in?” Megatron huffed. “You’ve been trying for two years. Besides, the entire city is under Decepticon control. How far do you think you’ll get?”

“Far enough!” Orion jumped up to kick Megatron in the face before running to the hole blown into the wall. The Autobots crashed out the windows in vehicle form and drove down the street with the Decepticons shooting their guns after them.

“It’s a long drive back to Iacon, Autobots! So move!” prowl said.

“We’ll never make it!” Hound said. “There’s Decepticons everywhere!”

Orion sent out an emergency pulse signal through their comm-channel. “Rally on me, Autobots! We’re leaving!”

The Decepticons heard a loud roar and looked up to see a giant draconian creature with a body shaped like a space shuttle land on the ground and unleash a barrage of plasma and missile fire from his onboard weapons.

“Load up, boys! We’re taking fire and the meter’s running out!” Sky Lynx said.

“Am I glad to see you, Sky Lynx!” Elita-1 smiled.

“As you should!” The giant Autobot huffed proudly.

The Autobots loaded up into Sky Lynx’s cargo bay and the hatch closed shut behind them. Ironhide gave the signal to disembark and Sky Lynx’s massive body flew off the ground, reconfiguring into a space shuttle as he felt away. Nightshade hopped onto a rooftop and pointed a sniper rifle at them.

“I’ve got a clear shot of their shuttle, Megatron.” She said.

“Let them go. Harassment fire only.” He ordered, grinning. “With what he’s learned, Orion will do more damage to the Autobot cause than we could in a hundred years.”

XXXXXX

When Zeta Prime learned of their failure to apprehend Soundwave, she was livid. The entire Autobot team witnessed the bulk of her rage at them, but it was Orion who took the brunt of her temper. He didn’t even flinch as she yelled in his face.

“You’re an embarrassment to the Autobot cause, Orion.” She hissed in his face. Her cold eyes glared into his masked visage and he glared right back. “I tasked you with retrieving hyper-sensitive intel, yet you return to me with nothing!”

“Oh, I gathered intel all right,” He growled. “I saw for myself what you were planning, Zeta. It’s madness! Our war is against the Decepticons, not our own citizens!”

“Do not presume to judge me for my methods, Orion Pax!” Zeta spat. “That’s the second ambush you led your team into! Clearly you lack the subtlety and strength for true leadership!”

“Ha! Like you’re a shining beacon of peace and unity!” Orion sneered. “You shouldn’t talk, Zeta. Say what you want about me to make yourself look good, but at least the people of Iacon don’t whisper my name in fear like I’m Unicron!”

“How dare you insult your Prime!” Zeta snarled.

“How dare you insult the mech who made you a Prime!” Orion yelled back.

“Enough of this, both of you!” Ultra Magnus yelled, standing between the two before things got physical. His Elite Guardsmen stood close, ready to interfere on his behalf.

Zeta and Orion glared at each other for a minute before stepping back from each other. Then Zeta said in a clipped tone, “I have another missing for you. Fail it, and I’ll leave you to the Decepticons.”

Taking Orion, Ironhide and Prowl down into the Citadel’s operation center, Zeta told them of their next mission. “Your mission is to apprehend the insurgent who has been giving us trouble in Nyon. His…capture must be etched into the minds of al who threaten our order.”

‘Right…capture.’ Orion thought scornfully. Zeta out to learn how to be more subtle with her true intentions.

“Great. This’ll be like chasing a comet-trail into a black hole.” Ironhide groaned.

“Easy, Ironhide.” Orion told his friend. “I’m not sure I like what you’re implying, Zeta.”

“Your opinion on the matter is irrelevant.” Zeta dismissed him “Our intel has identified this little revolutionary and while he’s new to the insurgency, he’s proven to be cunning and fearless. He’s exactly the kind of recruit we don’t want the Decepticons to have.”

“Nyon’s a rough neighborhood.” Prowl said. “Do we have any leads on this mech?”

“Just one,” Zeta brought up a holo-image of a young red and orange mech on the display. “His name is Rodimus.”


	3. Ruins

Chapter 3-Ruins

Alpha Trion, head archivist of the Hall of Records and guild master of the data caste, sat in his office at the top of the tallest building in the Hall. The Covenant sat on his desk, open with its pages spread baring words that could only be read by Trion himself. It was dusk, with the sun fading into the horizon. Usually these moments of twilight would give Alpha Trion some peace from a hard day’s work, but not today. Instead, the approaching darkness only made him unsettled and wary of the events to come.

Zeta was becoming increasingly unstable and obsessed with removing all traces of rebellion on the planet. Everywhere she looked, she thought there were threats where there were none. Trion thought it a surprise that she didn’t start accusing the senate of committing treason behind her back, but it was only a matter of time. Zeta’s paranoia would be the end of her and all of Cybertron if things kept going down this path like this. As if things weren’t already complicated enough, the Covenant was being rather vague on the future of Orion Pax. Alpha Trion didn’t know why this was, but he deduced that something significant was going to happen soon with Orion at the heart of it.

‘I shouldn’t be surprised at this point.’ Trion thought. ‘Orion has always lived an eventful life. One full of suffering and hardships on his end, sadly.’

It reminded him of his own early life, and the tragedies that followed. That brought back memories he would rather forget. Thankfully, a distraction came in the form of a visiting senator that he knew very well.

“Alpha Trion?” A feminine voice called out.

“Torenia, please, come in.” He waved the senator in and she entered his office looking more exhausted than before. He offered her a seat and sat back in his chair. “How are you? I heard about the Decepticon infiltrating the Citadel.”

“I’m fine, as are the other senators, though we’re all shaken. Soundwave is no assassin, but he has a habit of getting into places thought untouchable.” Torenia sighed. “Zeta is livid at how news of her so-called weapon was stolen by the Decepticons and at Orion for losing him. They almost came to blows in front of the Elite Guard over the vamparc weapon.”

“Yes, I heard about that monstrosity. I knew Zeta was slipping, but to use an entire city as fuel.” Alpha Trion shook his head. “It’s unthinkable. Not to mention the public outcry at such an action.”

“She thinks she’s doing us all a favor by wiping Nyon off the map. She’s even outfitted the Omega Guardians with the vamparc cannons. We’re doing everything we can to stop her but she’d dead set on depriving the Decepticons of their “troops”.”

“I would like to help you, Torenia, but this is out of my sphere of influence. All we can hope is that Orion can somehow convince her not to go through with this place…or stop her if she does. I know he won’t let her do this to innocent people.”

“Yes, and that’s what worries me. Zeta knows this too and I can’t help but think that she’s getting tired of Orion questioning her every action. Their arguments are legendary at this point and they’re only getting worse.” She said.

Alpha Trion looked at the senator in sympathy as she worried herself sick over the condition of Orion. She was like this more often than not lately, mainly due to her close connection to Orion. Unknown to all but a few, including Alpha Trion himself, Orion’s Spark was ignited in a lone hot spot deep inside a cavern in a remote area of Iacon’s territory. Torenia had happened upon him by accident following a quake that caused the ferry she was riding on to crash to shore. She found his Spark in a little crevice, a little green ball of energy sticking out of the ground. Torenia took it upon herself to harvest the little Spark with some sentio metallico and assist in the deep coding herself until help arrived.

Even after the protoforms was sent to a facility Torenia continued to keep tabs on the little one, from his early stages to his maturation two weeks later. Orion didn’t talk with her as much as he used to following the chaos two years ago, but he tried to speak to her whenever he had the chance, and Torenia always made time for him when he came. Alpha Trion couldn’t help but liken it to a mother fretting over her child.

“I know you want to do something about these new developments, Torenia, but I must insist that you watch yourself. Zeta is no longer of a sound mind and she will only take so much back talk before she decides to quiet you for good.” He told her. “She even has eyes on Orion, whom the public has better words for than her.”

Torenia sighed and rubbed her forehead. “What’s the point of the senate if the Prime doesn’t heed their council? I thought things would at least get marginally better after Sentinel’s death, but things had only gotten worse.”

“The people have been hurt one too many times, Torenia. They’re tired of being enslaved, beaten and ordered around like drones. They’re angry and speak out against the people or government that put them in this hellish limbo, and Megatron is their voice. He is their sword and the Decepticons their shield. They are fully willing to side with him if it means the elimination of the politicians who put them down for so long.” Alpha Trion explained.

It was a mindset that wasn’t that complicated to grasp. There were many tyrants and kingpins who ruled through fear and intimidation. Though he agreed that such brutality was one way of putting the people in their place, their arrogance blinded them to the fact that the people outnumbered the nobility a thousand to one. Fear is a useful tool, but eventually, the people will get tired of being afraid and will become angry. And when you’re a lone tyrant dealing with a vast number of disenfranchised people surrounding you, the odds are rarely in your favor. The few who realize this often turn to mass genocide, making the problem worse and paving the way for a possible coup. Trion had seen it happen one too many times in his lifetime.

“So we either let Zeta do her thing and have all of Cybertron come down on us or hope that Orion can convince her otherwise to stop the killing of hundreds? That’s no solution, that’s just a temporary measure to keep things from getting out of control.” She said.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Torenia.” Alpha Trion said. “Things are already out of control.”

XXXXXX

The journey back to Nyon was long and tense. Orion was still seething from his argument with Zeta, but he was slowly calming down as they neared their destination. He instructed Sky Lynx to find a place away from any major population centers, which was near the outskirts of the residential area in the slums, where people rarely went in fear of being assaulted by local gangs or rogue military officers from the old senate regime. As Sky Lynx flew over the city, Orion asked for a sit rep of where they were going.

“According to intel, out target’s taken refuge near the outskirts of Nyon’s territory around the Rust Narrows.” Prowl said, bringing up a holo-map of the region from his palm. “It’s not inhabited ad there are a lot of places where insurgents can hold up.”

“Got it. Sky Lynx, you know where to go.” Orion told their living transport. Sky Lynx followed the coordinates to an even more desolate part of Nyon’s territory. It looked like a natural disaster had befallen this region and the Autobots couldn’t help but liken it to the old ruins within the Sea of Rust. As if Nyon couldn’t get any more depressing. Sky Lynx landed in an open area of the Rust Narrows and allowed his passengers to disembark.

“Last stop: Nyon, the ugliest city on Cybertron. Please keep your belongings within eyesight at all times and never speak to strangers unless you plan on getting shanked for your troubles.” Sky Lynx announced.

“Sky Lynx, please.” Orion sighed. The massive dragon bot grinned with his wide mouth of dagger like teeth and took off to hover over the city. Seeing their transport vanish into the thick clouds above, Orion turned to his team. “Let’s get moving.”

They took on vehicle mode and drove through the cracked, uneven streets of the Rust Narrows, trying their best to ignore the people who looked like walking corpses and their lifeless eyes. Orion had flashbacks to the tragedy that befell Tarn and when he saw a few dead protoforms lying in the alleyways, he stopped paying attention entirely and focused on the street ahead of him. A few minutes of driving led the team to another part of the Narrows that was vastly more different than the rest of Nyon.

Unlike the rest of the city, this area wasn’t rundown from negligence and violence, but from age and disuse. It was less of a district and more like an ancient ruin, with tall curved buildings and glyph covered spires. There was even a massive domed building with giant statues of cybertronian knights lining the walkway. It harkened back to a more ancient time. A time of prosperity and order.

“We’re here. The ruins of the old Acropolis.” Prowl said.

“Amazing. I’ve read about this place back in the Hall of Records.” Elita-1 breathed, her inner scholar coming out for the moment. “Legends say it was one of the capitals of ancient Cybertron, long before the proper formation of the thirteen city-states. It’s been abandoned for a long time following the Quintesson occupation.”

“And it’s in Nyon of all places. Nice to know this hellhole is good for something other than black market sales prices.” Hound said. “But we don’t know anything else about this place, or what to expect.”

“In a place with this many hiding places for insurgents of weapons, it sounds like a damn death trap to me.” Ironhide grumbled.

Silverbolt circled over their position above the region. “Ironhide’s right, sir-I won’t be able to cover you in that labyrinth.”

“Just hold position, Silverbolt.” Orion ordered. “Keep your comm clear.”

“Roger that sir.”

Orion led his team into the Acropolis, keeping an eye out for any surprises. There was little they could do if there were hidden bombs or turrets, but they could keep their eyes open for any soldiers hiding behind the statues. Orion felt a bit funny since stepping foot onto holy ground, like a short surge of…something. He couldn’t shake the feeling but figured it was just the thick air getting to his intakes.

“So what’s the story on this…Rodimus?” elita-1 asked, gazing up at the towering statues that were probably the most intact structures in the Rust Narrows. “Anything we need to know?”

“Word is he’s enhanced for speed and precision. But by who, we don’t know.” Prowl informed her, describing what he already memorized from the criminal profile he read earlier. “And more uncommon rumors tell that he has a design quirk that is similar to an outlier’s power.”

“Really?” Hound said.

“Possibly, but don’t put too much stock into it.” Prowl said. “None of this is concrete, seeing as Nyon’s civilian database is severely out of date.”

The Autobot came upon the largest structure in the Acropolis, a mighty fortress that was once a place of worship for an order of warriors who faded into the annals of history. Elita-1 wondered how beautiful this place was in the past and how she had missed a place like this back in the data caste. You’d think something like this would at least put Nyon on the map for archeological sites and study by the proper castes.

As someone who often valued historical sites told in old datatracks, she was saddened and enraged at how neglected Nyon was by the government. Even their senator had long since forgotten about it, having killed himself when Megatron came knocking out of fear of being torn apart by the very people he put down in a revolt-a revolt that never came. She knew that the senate was less than useful before the Uprising, but how could anyone just leave an entire state to rot like this?

“All right, listen up!” elita-1 regained her focus and looked t Orion. “Hound, you take point. Find our target. Prowl and Elita-1, cover him. Ironhide, cover the rear.”

“Locked and loaded.” Ironhide powered up his arm cannons. “After all, walking headlong into ambushes has been our specialty lately.”

Orion grinned and summoned his face plate. “If it wasn’t dangerous, we’d be in the wrong place.”

They entered the main fortress and came upon a great hall. Light from the faint sunlight peeking through the clouds shined through the stained glass windows that made the chamber luminous. To think that a place so beautiful rested in Nyon. Orion faintly remembered the church of Mortilus in Tarn. He wondered if the church was still there…along with Elmeth’s ashes.

Everything was silent save for their footsteps and Ironhide’s annoyed grumbles. When they reached the worn eroded statue of Prima at the far end of the chamber, two laser bolts hit the wall above Prowl’s head.

“Sniper at 0.37!” He yelled, ducking to avoid any more shots.

“Take cover!” Orion yelled and fired his cannon at the attacker. The mech, whose face was cloaked in the long shadows of the statues, dodged the blasts and jumped onto the head of a fallen statue.

“Autobots! I’ve been waiting for you.” Rodimus of Nyon said as he stepped into the light. He was a fairly young mech with red and orange armor and yellow flame designs on his chest. On his back was a folded up v-shaped yellow fin and three electro grills on his forearms. “You got guts coming here, I’ll give you that.” He gave them a large grin and waved them over. “Now let’s see if you can keep up!”

“Keep up with this, punk!” Ironhide yelled and fired his cannons at Rodimus, but the mech had already switched to car mode and drove away, deeper into the fortress.

“Wow, nice shooting, Hide.” Elita-1 drawled, shaking her head. “Greatest shooter on Cybertron here.”

“Shut up, Elita-1. I’ll nail him.”

“Enough. Let’s go after him before we lose his trail.” Orion said, walking past them. He grimaced a bit and shook his head to get rid of the faint tingling in his head as he went deeper into the Acropolis.

XXXXXX

Hound’s keen olfactory sensors helped the team navigate the fortress, following Rodimus’s trail a specific path that they’d most likely never noticed if they were exploring the place blind. After a quiet walk down the hallway, they entered a massive chamber with ornate statues of cybertronian warriors standing side by side to each other, each statue different and unique.

“Rodimus came through here.” Hound said. “He’s not even trying to cover his tracks.”

“Watch your corners, team. Stay alert.” Orion said.

“This place reminds me of the old datatracks Alpha Trion used to show me.” Elita-1 said as she studied the tall statues. “They were about ancient settlements and battle fortresses of the Knights of Cybertron…that is, if they ever existed.”

“I saw something like that too.” Hound said. “The Knights were said to be the vanguard of the Thirteen Primes, led by Prima and acted as Cybertron’s guardians long before the city-states were founded. They were an order of wisdom and fought for justice.”

It was a common enough tale; one of an order of knights formed by Prime of the Thirteen to protect the early cybertronians from the prehistoric beasts that roamed Cybertron. They fought to uphold the ideals of their race-duty, honor, equality, perseverance-things long since lost following the Rust Plague that ravaged their kind across the galaxy. No one believed they existed thanks to a lack of solid evidence, but there were some who took these stories to heart. Dai Atlas and a couple of others formed the Circle of Light as a patriotic sect that acted as modern day knights, fighting with swords and other weapons but never raising a hand in anger-only friendship. Orion used to enjoy hearing about the Knights, but now just thinking about them left cynical thoughts in his head.

Things like chivalrous knights who defended the weak and fought evil was the stuff of legends. Where were they when the Quintessons invaded? Where were they when the Proudstar vanished, leaving Cybertron without a Prime? Where were they when the Rust Plague hit thousands of colonies and killed millions? No, the knights didn’t exist, for if they did, they would’ve stopped Cybertron from becoming the nightmare it’s turned into now.

“That’s a nice story, Hound, but we’ve got our own justice to dispense.” Orion said curtly. Elita-1 wasn’t the least bit perturbed by his tone.

“But just imagine it, Orion-if only these walls could talk…the things we could learn-about who we are, how we should live.” She smiled sadly. “It must have been a better world back then. No corruption, no pain…sometimes I think we’re the derelicts of history, left here among the ruins.”

“Real poetic, Elita-1.” Ironhide scoffed. “Y’know, sometimes I wonder if you’re cut out for this kind of work.”

“And sometimes I wonder if you’re cut out for this type of strenuous activity at your age.” She shot back with a scowl. “Just because you have more experience doesn’t mean you can act like I don’t belong here.”

“Then get your head in the game, girl. This is war, not those guerilla games you played during the Uprising.”

Ironhide was suddenly slammed up against the wall by an invisible hand and Elita-1 marched right up to him with her eyes flashing. “Don’t you dare call what happened in the Uprising a game. I lost my life and good friends to those functionist bastards while you were hopping to Sentinel’s tune. Tell me, Ironhide, while Sentinel was getting his tailpipe rearranged by Megatron, where were you?”

“Elita, stop this!” Orion forced her to place Ironhide down and he stood between them. “We’re in a combat zone and you two decided to do this now? What is wrong with you? We could be surrounded by enemies and your first inclination is to bicker like hungry protoforms!”

“Tell your sergeant to watch his mouth before he says something he’s gonna regret.” Elita-1 growled.

“Well tell your outlier friend that she better have the bearings to back up those bold words.”

“Shut up!” Orion shouted. His yell echoed throughout the ruins, silencing everyone. He gave Ironhide and Elita-1 angry looks that actually cowed them into submission. “We’re getting this mission done, or I’m pinning our failure on you two if things go south for us.”

“Guys, I found something!” Prowl called them over. Still glaring at Elita-1, Ironhide walked over to Prowl with Hound as Prowl pointed to the words carved into the floor. “It’s an inscription.”

Hound knelt down to read it. “It’s pretty faded. ‘True freedom exists when all are one’.”

“When all are one? Like that’s ever going to happen.”

Hound noticed something sticking out of the floor panels and peeled them away to reveal a dangerous device. “Hold up! There are plasma mines buried all around the chamber!”

The Autobots immediately went on their guard, but Prowl realized that something was strange. He took a closer look at the mines. “Odd. They haven’t been armed. This Rodimus could have taken us out at any time.”

“The fragger’s playing with us!” Hound said offended.

As the others voiced their outrage, Orion glared up at one of the statues, feeling them stare back with their stony dead gaze. Cursing them, he marched forward while giving orders to his team. “Let’s just get this done.”

XXXXXX

It wasn’t long before they entered another chamber. There were no windows or light sources, leaving everything in darkness-save for the glittering blue mural of the Matrix of Leadership. The Autobots gaped at the stunning image that looked as divine as it was beautiful, enough to make the master artisans of Harmonex praise it for stellar cycles to come.

“The symbol of the Matrix.” Orion breathed.

“What is this? Some kind of shrine?” Elita-1 questioned.

“Just more superstitious mumbo-jumbo.” Ironhide said uncaringly.

Elita-1 glared at him. “The Matrix is an important part of our culture, Ironhide-culture that the Quintessons and Functionists tried so hard to erase and suppress. It was said to have been a jewel on the hilt of Prima’s sword, broken off during a fight with the Predacon King. It’s said to be a fragment of Primus’s Spark, a symbol of hope and peace in ancient times.”

“It was a sacred relic of the Primes, a symbol of their power and status.” Prowl said. He remembered Sentinel’s forgery, the disguised bomb meant to act as the opening salvo in the war against all opposition to the senate. Cybertron would’ve been embroiled in a brutal witch hunt had Orion, Chromedome and a few others not removed it from Nominus Prime’s body. To think that Sentinel would go that far. “Now people scarcely believe it’s real.”

“Oh come on, Prowl-the Matrix bearer thing is just propaganda to keep the common bots in line.” Ironhide said. “You’ve seen Zeta. Does she strike you as someone being powered by the source of all life and hope.”

“Enough of this!” Orion yelled. “Rodimus is just bating us, drawing us in.”

“I don’t know,” Elita-1 said uncertainly. “He’s had plenty of chances to take us out. I think maybe he’s trying to show us something.”

Sitting on an unseen ledge, Laserbeak sat hidden in the shadows as he recorded everything seen and said and transmitted it back to Megatron.

XXXXXX

Megatron smirked as he watched the feed Laserbeak was sending back, reclining in his seat in his personal chambers in Kokular, the Decepticon HQ in Kaon. “This is fun. The young Rodimus has led a…clever chase.”

“I heard he was a racer for the underground circuits before he started leading resistance raids all over Nyon.” Nightshade said, leaning on the back of his chair, wings tucked close to her back. “He’s somehow managed to avoid the authorities for a long time, not that they’re that smart to begin with.”

“A master of deception and trickery. He would’ve made a fine Decepticon.” Megatron nodded and gave Starscream a look. “A pity you could never recruit him.”

Starscream gave an annoyed huff. He had tried to recruit Rodimus into the Decepticons numerous times in the past, but the young mech wasn’t interested. When Starscream tried to threaten him into joining, he was left with four dead Seekers and a wounded pride. “Whether he wears our badge or not, Megatron, he’s about to finish those troublesome Autobots for us.” He smirked. “Something you’ve repeatedly failed to do, I might add.”

Nightshade almost reprimanded him, but Megatron quieted her, not looking the slightest bit angry at the insult. “As usual, you miss the point, Starscream. Orion is about to see the truth…and when he does-all hell will break loose on Iacon.”

XXXXXX

“Feelin’ like a wild Shrike-bat, Pax.” Ironhide complained, fingering his combat rifle.

“Stow it, Ironhide.” Orion said. “Hound?”

The tracker pointed down the hall to the last chamber up ahead. “His tracks lead straight into the room but the data grid shows it’s a dead end there.”

“Hell yeah, end of the road for you now, kid!” Ironhide grinned.

The Autobots entered the room and were caught off guard by the eerie red glow that took over the chamber. The glow was coming from multiple tanks harboring bubbling red liquid inside. And on the floor were almost two dozen cybertronians who looked like they were falling apart. Mechs and femmes with dull, lifeless eyes and rusted armor hanging off of skinny frames. They all moaned and groaned in slow agony, but some were quiet-perhaps too quiet. It was a sickening sight for the Autobots.

“Primus help us.” Elita-1 gasped. “What is all this?”

“Are those…energon tanks?” Prowl whispered in abstract horror. This wasn’t what he was expecting. “Where are we?”

“And what are these people doing here?” Hound asked.

The door slammed shut behind them and Orion cursed. “Slag! Defensive formation! Weapons primed!”

“I wouldn’t start shooting here, officer.” Rodimus walked out from behind one of the tanks and stood amongst the dying crowd. “These tanks are highly volatile and don’t react well to blaster fire.”

Orion pointed his gun at Rodimus’s head. “You’re under arrest, Rodimus! Surrender and no one else will be hurt!”

“Let’s hope so.” Rodimus said, not even afraid. He waved his arms down at the morbid sight around him. “Autobots, I want to welcome you to the heart of the Acropolis. Once the shining center of the Golden Age, now just a den of rust and suffering.”

“Stop with the games and tell us what is this about!” Pax shouted, losing his patience.

Rodimus frowned and waved his hand at the people. “Take a look around. Tell me what you see.”

They all glanced at the thin, weary, dying bots suffering. They looked drained, low on power and very close to stasis lock, if not outright burnout. Even Prowl, who busted his fair share of circuit booster dens and druggies, had never seen something this horrific.

“They’ve all been bleed dry of their energon. Half of these people are already dying from low energon levels.” Elita-1 said.

“I take it these are just a small percentage of the people afflicted.” Orion said, his eyes narrowing into slits. “You led us here so that we’d see…Zeta did this!”

“And you helped her. These people come here, desperate to soak up any drops of power that has been spilled. They’re dying-and there are facilities like these all over Cybertron.” Rodimus said as he walked up to Orion. “Your government bled us dry and you wonder why we bombed you…why we fight to drive you from our neighborhoods.”

“But we didn’t do this. We didn’t even know about this!” Hound said. Rodimus gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Some would say differently.”

“Why show us this?” Orion asked. “Why not just kill us? You’ve had plenty of chances to take us out back there.”

“Because I believe you’re different, Orion. You’re not like your Prime.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because of the holo-vids!” said a short, light purple mech. He was the bartender from the Jumping Point-Huffer. “They’re all over the data-net showin’ you standin’ up to the senate and calling them out on their corruption! Deep down, like the ancient ones who built this place-you still believe in justice.” He frowned at the dying people around him,. “Rodimus brought you here-showed you all this-so you could prove it.”

“I won’t resist.” Rodimus said. “You can either arrest me…or stand with me. It’s your choice, Autobot. Make it count.”

Orion barely heard him. He was still trying to process what he just learned. He knew Zeta was ruthless but to know she was actually conducting torture on these people for heaven knows how long just sent his temper through the roof. The frustration, the anger, the betrayal, it all boiled over and he let it out the only way he knew how.

“AAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” He lifted his cannon over his head and threw it into one of the tanks, shattering it and sending the red liquid spilling onto the floor like blood. He stomped out of the room, away from the proof that Megatron had been right all along.

Oh how he was fortune’s fool.

XXXXXX

Orion stood on one of the balconies he chanced upon while he was stewing in his anger. It gave him a perfect view of the grim, dark city. His mind was still trying to process all the terrible things Zeta was doing behind his back. Zeta, a femme he worked with to fight the Functionists, had done all this and then some to innocents just because she didn’t want the Cons to get new recruits. First Megatron, now Zeta. Enemies from the front, enemies from the back, it just didn’t stop. He couldn’t take this scrap anymore.

“Orion?” Elita-1 and Prowl walked onto the balcony with him. “Orion are you there?”

“We could’ve prevented this.” He muttered to them. “Nyon would’ve lived is Zeta just stayed the course…but now look at where we are. All that work to save Cybertron and she manages to ruin it in less than five mons (months). Fragging pathetic.”

Elita-1 took his hand. “How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know. I was mad before, but now…I just don’t know.” Orion held his head in his hands, leaning on his elbows.

“So Megatron was right about Zeta.” She said. “What do we do about it now? Confront Zeta? I’m sure if we explain the situation, we might have enough resources to fight her.”

“Fight her?” Prowl repeated incredulously.

“Prowl, Zeta’s planning to turn Nyon into a burning crater. We don’t have the manpower to fight her.” Elita-1 said. “We know the truth now, and she won’t just let us go.”

“…You’re saying we should side with the Decepticons.” Orion said. It wasn’t a question.

“That’s insane!” Prowl protested. “We’ve been fighting them for two years and now you want us to join them?”

“Prowl, the Cons were fighting Zeta’s aggressive influence and we all saw how brutal she’s becoming to enemy and ally alike. I’m sorry, but they aren’t the only problem anymore.”

“But we’re Autobots! You’re suggesting we side with the dissidents against our own government!”

“A government that’s declaring war on its own citizens and using them as science experiments and living batteries!” She yelled.

“No,” Orion said at last. “Not the government. Zeta.”

They were silent for a moment before Prowl turned to his leader. “Orion, what do we do?”

Orion looked back out to the city and opened his mouth to give his answer, but something caught his attention. Up in the sky, a massive fireball descended to the city. He then realized that there were more than one, and they all impacted close to each other, destroying large sections of the city as they crashed into buildings and killed hundreds upon impact. When the cold night air blew the thick clouds of smoke away, it revealed the colossal forms of heavily armed giants standing hundreds of feet into the air. A group of Omega Sentinels.

“You see that fire on the horizon, Prowl? That’s our future burning.” Orion said as he watched the Omega Guardians unleash a hellstorm upon Nyon. “Zeta’s making her big push. We’re all out of options.”

XXXXXX

Nyon was burning. Five Omega Sentinels marched through the streets, firing their large plasma cannons. These colossal robots were created in secret by Sentinel Prime’s defense team to as Cybertron’s defenders, but in a time where energon was short in supply, they were a nightmare-both to refuel and maintain. As protocol dictated, they could only be controlled by high ranking members of the Cybertron Defense Force…or the ruling Prime. Zeta used this to great effect.

“Dissidents of Nyon! You have been branded as traitors to my regime! Now you and this wretched slum will be bled of energon so that Cybertron may thrive!” Zeta bellowed, walking with her goliath soldiers through the ravaged streets. Her vamparc ribbon was mouthed to her arm, fully charged and ready to rip apart whoever was in its sights. “Be not dismayed! Your rebel Sparks shall serve the greater order! Your future-your energon-shall live within us!”

She raised her vamparc and fired tendrils of energy that tore apart countless civilians fleeing in terror. Those that weren’t killed by Prime were massacred by the rampaging Sentinels.

Within the Acropolis, the Autobots and Rodimus watched in horror as the city was systematically destroyed by Zeta. Seeing the chaos in the distance, Orion made his decision.

“Lock and load, Autobots!” he called out. “We’re moving out!”

Rodimus glared at him. “That’s it? You’re just abandoning us?”

“No. but I will buy you some time to get these people out of here.” Orion said. “This whole city’s going to burn.”

“Are you kidding? They’re in no condition to evacuate!” Rodimus yelled. Orion shook his head and walked away.

“You don’t have a choice. You’re their leader now, boy. Find a way-or they’ll all die here amongst the ruins.” He said grimly. “Let’s move!”

XXXXXX

At Kokular, Megatron watched the attack on Nyon with Nightshade and Starscream via Laserbeak, though the avian mech was scared witless. Though he didn’t show it, Megatron was surprised at this sudden development, not expecting Zeta to do something so drastic. There were echoes of Tarn’s burning in this massacre, but at least he knew who to kill for it.

“Primus…she’s insane.” Nightshade whispered. “And I don’t use that word lightly.”

“I must admit, I didn’t expect this much…zeal from Zeta.” Megatron said.

Starscream crossed his arms. “You sound impressed. The two of you are more alike than you thought.”

“Hold your tongue, Starscream! Megatron is nothing like that psychopath.” Nightshade hissed. “Megatron, what do we do?”

“Let’s monitor the situation for now. We’ll move out soon, but I’m far more interested in how Orion will handle this crisis.”

XXXXXX

Elita-1 tried to ignore the burnt bodies of the unfortunate civilians as she followed her team through the burning streets of Nyon’s commercial area. The Autobots assembled as close to the hot zone as possible as they tried to formulate a plan to route the Omega Sentinels that didn’t end with them either crushed underfoot or vaporized. Thankfully they had enough ordnance to level a city block thanks to Ironhide, so they had something going for them at least.

“The Omega Sentinels are tough enough as it is…but with this vamparc tech we don’t have much hope of taking them out.” Elita-1 told Orion.

“We just need to slow them down.” Orion replied. “We’ll lure them down through the Rust Narrows and see what kind of damage we can do.” He turned to the others. “Hound, lay down some graviton mines across that northern intersection. Ironhide, grab cover and be ready with the cyclone launcher. Elita, find a rooftop and pick your shots smartly.”

“What about you and Prowl?” She asked.

“We’re the bait.” He said. “You have your orders. Roll out!”

They scattered and Orion and Prowl transformed to their alt modes, driving towards the nearest Omega Sentinel. The giant robot stomped down the street scanning for living targets to destroy when its covered face looked down and saw the two Autobots swerve around a corner. Orion gave a startled curse as he almost drove right into its foot and did an about-face as the walking death machine focused on them.

 **“Target acquired. Terminate.”** The Omega Sentinel droned and aimed its plasma cannon at them.

“That didn’t take very long!” Prowl yelled, almost swerving off the street when the Sentinel fired a massive plasma beam at them. He could feel the intense heat behind them and felt the ground shake under them.

“Ironhide, be ready! We’re inbound with a Sentinel in pursuit!” Orion called out.

Ironhide and Elita-1 were camping out in the fifth floors of two adjacent buildings that were evacuated following the siege. Two dozen graviton mines that Ironhide was somehow able to hide on his person were placed along the street and sidewalk. As soon as Orion and Prowl came around the corner, Elita-1 telekinetically pulled them off the street and into the alleyway just as the Omega Sentinel marched down the street, not stopping even as it lost sight of its target. It didn’t even notice the mines until its large foot stomped onto them and detonated the mines.

Graviton mines were designed to increase the local gravitational field of its immediate area three times the normal gravity. With 24 of those things in one place going off at the same time, the gravitational pull was strong enough to increase the weight of the Omega Sentinel’s leg and drag it to its knees. Ironhide and Elita-1 braced themselves as the robot’s shoulders scraped the sides of the buildings in its descent, but they held on and opened fire with explosive bursts from their combat rifles, aiming at the weak points in the robots upper body. Ironhide lobbed six EMP grenades at its head along with a few missiles from his cannons, not letting up until he couldn’t see its face with all the flames and smoke covering its torso.

Orion and Prowl were hiding inside an empty shop as the fireworks went on outside. “Elita, do you have a visual? Did you get it?”

“I can’t get a solid visual on it, Orion. The flames are too intense.” She reported.

Nearby, Rodimus and Hound watched the fiery display from a safe distance. “What’re you worried about? That thing may be tough, but it ain’t strong enough to take that kind of punishment unscathed.” Rodimus said.

“I hope so.” Hound said. “Those were the last of my demolition packs.”

Prowl narrowed his eyes as he saw a pair of glowing eyes shining through the thick cloud of smoke. “It’s still moving!”

The Omega Sentinel took a few minutes to stand back to its full height, but it did so with moderate damages. There were a few holes from where the missiles hit its body, along with its face mask shattered, revealing its stoic face and dead expression. Its leg was slightly damaged from the strain put on it from the graviton mines, but it was still operational enough to monitor for targets.

“We didn’t even dent it.” Elita-1 gasped.

“Aw slag, what are we gonna do now?!” Ironhide yelled.

“Elita, Ironhide, it’s going to attack. Move, now!” Orion shouted at them.

The Omega Sentinel powered up its plasma cannon and fired on the Autobots’ firing positions. Elita-1 was forced to jump out of the window and break her fall to avoid the plasma beam tearing up the building she was just in. It turned to the opposite building and slammed its claws into the fifth floor, almost crushing Ironhide as he made his own escape-by jumping on its arm. He fired his cannons into its face nonstop and quickly climbed down the length of the Sentinel’s body.

“Ironhide, what the hell?” Elita-1 yelled at him.

“Not all of us have fancy powers to slow our falls, princess.” Ironhide growled. He looked up and saw a red glow coming from the Sentinel’s left arm. “Scrap!”

They ran into an alley as the Sentinel fired its vamparc cannon, shooting a powerful beam of blood red energy that tore into the concrete and led the beam down the street. The few civilians caught in the attack were killed, their energy immediately drained upon contact and died almost immediately.

“Primus, Orion, they’re being slaughtered!” Elita-1 exclaimed. “What’s the plan? Please tell me we have a plan!”

Orion watched the Omega Sentinel continue on its way unperturbed by the brief assault. It paid little attention to the buildings and statues in its path as it searched for more people to kill. Knowing there was little else for them to do, Orion closed his eyes and gave the order. “Fall back.”

“What?!” Ironhide shouted.

“There’s nothing more we can do here.” Orion said, not liking the thought of running away. “Let’s just hope we bought Rodimus enough time.”

XXXXXX

Rodimus and Huffer watched the Omega Sentinels continue to lay waste to Nyon and its people. They stood on the outskirts of the Acropolis, watching in silence as the crowd of people they were able to gather up and evacuate rushed past them, scared and hurt.

“So much destruction…even with the Autobots’ help we’ll never make it to safety in time.” Rodimus lamented. He never liked Nyon, but seeing the city he was forged in go up in flames…it was a sight he’ll never forget. “How did this happen?”

“We always knew they’d invade our homes, Rodimus.” Huffer said. He didn’t look as stricken as his friend, mainly because he wasn’t surprised that Nyon suffered this fate. They were the dredges of society. They would’ve been knocked off sooner or later. “But we prepared a contingency.”

“Yeah.” Rodimus nodded. They wired a good part of the city with phase-charges a few cycles ago in case the Functionists tried to cull its people to maintain cybertronian “purity”. They could be detonated any time. “I just never thought that it would come to that.”

“Better that our people die at our hands than be drained to serve Zeta’s war machine.”

Rodimus scowled and held the detonator up, ready to press the button. His hand shook violently as he mustered his courage to commit the ultimate sin upon his birthplace. “Primus, forgive me.”

He pressed the button and Nyon went up in flames. In a chaotic display that rivaled the Great Fire of Tarn, thousands of phase-charges exploded at once, and their combined explosions level 3 square miles of the city. The night was filled with a deafening boom that almost blew out the audio receptors of those who were on site and towering pillars of flames rose into the air. The Omega Sentinels, who were at the heart of the inferno, were either destroyed during the initial detonation or were seriously damaged by falling buildings. Those unfortunate bots that were unable to escape were given mercifully quick deaths as they were vaporized in the explosions.

Rodimus watched it all unfold with a dying Spark.

“We may be beaten, but Zeta Prime will never have her victory.” Rodimus said in a shaky voice and fell to his knees, weeping.

XXXXXX

At the Rust Narrows, the Autobots watched Nyon’s destruction with looks of shock and awe…and anger.

“What the frag is this?!” Ironhide shouted. He was thrown onto his back when a powerful explosion took out the bridge. Hound helped him up but he pushed the tracker away as he watched the city disappear in a sea of flames. “I’m fragging done with getting blown up today!”

“Those aren’t vamparc blasts.” Hound said and his eyes went wide with horror. “Those are Rodimus’s phase-charges! He’s torching the city!”

“That’s insane!” Elita-1 shouted. “After everything we did to save his people, he wouldn’t just-“

Orion grabbed her shoulders and shook her with a crazed look in his eyes. “Damn it, Elita, don’t you get it? Zeta set us all up! We played right into her hands! Rodimus had no options left!”

A flash of light came from the sky and a crimson beam hit the ground near the Autobots, blasting them apart. Descending upon them like some angel of death, the ivory form of Zeta Prime landed before them, and she was definitely not happy as seeing her powerful and expensive Omega Sentinels destroyed.

“And now,” She growled. “Neither do you!”

“Zeta, you glitch!” Orion roared, shooting his barrage cannon at her at her. “After everything we did, the sacrifices our comrades made, you choose to do this?! You’re no better than the Decepticons!”

Zeta took the plasma blasts to her body head on, barely acknowledging the light damage she sustained as she rushed at Orion and punched him in the chest. He was knocked back almost two feet and fell to his knees in pain. Ironhide and Hound came at her from the side, firing their cannons at her, but she waved her hand and sent a vamparc wave at them that blasted them back from her.

“I told you long ago, Pax, it’s not about choosing the side that’s right,” Zeta said. “But the one that’s going to win!”

Prowl flanked her and threw some explosive throwing stars at her back. Their detonation against her armor barely phased her as she channeled more of the vamparc’s power into her body and flew at him. Prowl tried to grab his combat knives, but she grabbed his hand and slammed him into the ground three times.

“And you, you’ve outlived your usefulness, Sentinel’s dog!” Zeta sneered. She lifted him up and threw the mech into a lamp post, snapping it in half. Zeta went to finish him off with a concentrated blast when she was knocked by an invisible force that hit her chest.

Elita-1 fired a volley of force blasts at her and Zeta took each hit that impacted her with the force of high powered photon beams. Zeta slashed her hand and sent a crimson wave at Elita-1 who tore up a slab of stone to block the blast wave. She jumped up and fired a couple of plasma blasts at Zeta’s head, but the Prime deflected them and fired an ion blast from her shoulder cannon that caught Elita-1 in the chest. The Autobot hit the ground hard and stopped against the wall. Zeta summoned her blade from her wrist, but she jumped back when a glowing orange axe blade came rushing past her face. She spun around and kicked Orion in the chest before he could follow up and he skidded back from the blow.

“You are no Prime!” Orion snarled, eyes flashing with hatred. “You are no leader! We had a chance to fix the damage caused by Steelheart and Sentinel, but you only made it worse!”

“Is that anger I hear, Orion? Are you angry with me? That’s swell!” Zeta laughed. “I am fixing things, but to do that, we need to destroy anyone who threatens our cause. The Decepticons, those rebellious swine who raise arms against us, they all must die if our efforts are to succeed!”

“I’ve had enough of your hypocrisy!” Orion raised his axe at her. “I’ll kill you here and now to spare anyone the pain of having to suffer through your lies!”

“You can try,” Zeta fired a blast from her vamparc cannon and lashed out at Orion with superhot bolts of energy. He tried to attack her, but she rushed forward and slammed her fist into his chest and fired her cannon again, blasting him into the air and letting him crashed back into the ground. “But you will fail!”

Zeta glared down at Orion’s wounded form and pointed the vamparc ribbon at his head. Despite all her efforts to ensure loyalty in her subjects, to make sure the entire world knew about the penalty of aiding terrorists, the most she got from those sheep were veiled, empty vows of loyalty. But Orion Pax, a police officer turned revolutionary, got whispered praises. The mech who defied both the senate and Functionists, and killed Steelheart the Almighty. Those titles and credentials may have saved him in the past, but such attitudes had no place in her new world. She could just imagine how galvanized the Iaconian public would be once they heard Orion Pax was killed by Nyonian rebels while trying to save refugees.

“Goodbye, Orion Pax.” She muttered, preparing to fire. “You would’ve had a place in my world if you lost that naïve optimism of yours.”

Suddenly Zeta was attacked by a rain of laser bolts from above, forcing her to retreat before she could take on too much fire. She looked up with a snarl to see a squadron of Seekers hovering above her…along with Megatron.

“Hello, Prime.” Megatron greeted, his red eyes glowing like two suns in the shadows of the flames around them. “Decepticons, protect the Autobots at all costs! Leave Zeta to me.”

“Megatron,” Zeta grinned insanely, forgetting about Orion for even bigger prey. “Not even in my wildest dreams did I expect to crush this insurgency…and rid myself of you at the same time!”

She fired a vamparc bolt at Megatron, who jumped to the side as it tore deep into the ground like paper. He fired a beam from his fusion cannon and Zeta also dodged it, slamming her fist on the ground to unleash a powerful blast wave that disrupted his aim. She looked up and saw dozens of hovercrafts carrying people watching the fight between the two despots.

“Fitting that these wretched traitors would bear witness to me ending you with a weapon as ruthless as you are!” Zeta cackled.

Megatron smirked. “I know all about your vamparc ribbon, Zeta, how it drains the energon from those around you. But I’m wondering…just how much it takes to overload?”

Megatron leaped up and grabbed a hover platform, throwing it and its passengers at Zeta just as she fired a vamparc bolt at him. She gasped as her ribbon tore apart the poor bystanders without her command, drawing upon their energy. Combined with the energy she already absorbed from those she killed upon arriving at Nyon, the cannon was already reaching critical levels as it passed its energy capacity.

“No, no, no!” Zeta hissed in pain as the cannon’s temperature rose to dangerous levels. “Too much energy…what the hell did you do?!”

“I simply took advantage of a design flaw. Now you’ll have to lose your pretty cannon or risk frying your circuits.” Megatron grinned. “What do you say, Prime? Ready to face me in a fair fight?”

They both knew that a one on one close combat fight between them would end in Megatron’s favor due to his greater amount of experience and inherit resilience despite Zeta’s bulk. The Prime didn’t want to concede so early in her mission but she had grander things to worry about. Scowling, she cursed Megatron’s name and threw the sparkling ribbon aside, igniting her boosters and flying away from the battlefield.

“Coward!” Megatron yelled. “This isn’t over, Zeta! I’ll make a long career out of killing Primes!”

He glared at the small speck of Zeta’s form and looked down at Orion’s unconscious form. He was impressed that Orion was still even alive after taking that much damage from the vamparc ribbon. It would’ve torn a lesser bot to shreds. Megatron snapped his fingers.

“Gather these Autobots and bring them back to base!” He commanded, moving the Seekers into action. “Astrotrain, assume shuttle form and get us out of here!”

All his pieces were in play and but things escalated far too quickly for his comfort. He needed to initiate his endgame before Zeta set the entire planet on fire hunting for him.


	4. Overthrown

Chapter 4-Overthrown

_“We do worship our own god. One who shadows the Badlands, watching over every smelter, every miner, every gladiator. You call him Mortilus, but we call him Death.”_

_“You worship dead?” Orion asked puzzled. Elmeth looked up at the imposing statue of Mortilus._

_“When you live in the lower castes, no matter what occupation, you always worry about death. Death by falling into a smelting pool, death by leaking energy conduits, death by liquid nitrogen, death by faulty equipment,” She placed her hand on the gleaming onyx. “Death by the Pits. It matters not, for when we die, our Sparks belong to Mortilus-he who birthed death itself for our kind.”_

_“That’s a rather…interesting way of looking at things.”_

_She giggled. “You don’t have to pretend to like it, Orion. I understand that it’s a rather grim way to view our lives, but that’s how it is in Tarn. And Kaon. And Styx. Do you believe in gods, Orion?”_

_“I…don’t know.” He shrugged. “I just live in the moment. My life is a bit too hectic to really care about religion.”_

_“But that is precisely why you should care.” Elmeth walked up to him until they were only a few inches apart. “Having something to believe in, be it a god or a role model, or even a case. That is what gives many people a reason to live. It’s what keeps Megatron going, what draws so many people to him. What drew you to him. Because you wanted to live in a world where you could truly be alive, instead of just living. But I know you are not just a follower, you’re a leader too. So what do you want in life?”_

_“I…” He tried to speak, but she placed a finer on his lips._

_“No, I want you to think about this. It’s something you can’t just decide on a whim.” Elmeth smiled, her ruby eyes shining under the dim light. “But when you do find something worth fighting for, you will know. And when that time comes, only then will you be truly alive.”_

Elmeth’s voice still rang in Orion’s head as he returned to the waking world. The first thing he noticed was the single yellow orb hanging above him. At first he thought it was a light, but then he realized it was an eye-a single eye. As his optical sensors focused, he saw the hexagonal head of Shockwave and knew that he was in a place he definitely did not want to be.

“Stay your hand, Orion Pax. I am merely overseeing your final repairs. You have suffered extensive damage at the hands of Zeta Prime.” Shockwave told him in a dead tone.

‘Primus, what have they done to you?’ Orion thought. He felt the minor stings of laser scalpels welding his cuts closed as he tried to study his surroundings. “Where…where are we?”

“Kokular, our headquarters outside of Kaon.” Shockwave answered. “We brought you here after rescuing you from Zeta’s forces.”

Orion looked at his former friend, still trying to process how drastically different he was from the Shockwave he knew. Gone was the passionate patriot who was one of Cybertron’s greatest minds, all that was left was the lingering symbol of Functionist oppression and tyranny. Shadowplay and Empurata, it made him want to cut Steelheart into pieces all over again.

“You don’t even remember me, do you?” He lamented.

“Of course I do.” Shockwave replied in a blunt tone, not the least bit concerned with any friendship he might’ve had with Orion. “Were you expecting a more emotional reunion?”

“I don’t know what to expect anymore. I just regret not being able to save you from the senate when I had the chance. I regret not saving you from,” Orion waved a hand at Shockwave’s purple body. “This.”

“I bear you no ill will for something you obviously had no control over. Looking back now, I realize that my greatest flaw was my passionate attitude, as it often got me in trouble one too many times with the other senators.” Shockwave’s yellow eye gleamed in the dark purple light of his spotlight. “In fact, I’d say my ordeal has opened my eye somewhat. I now have no emotions to block my logic centers from seeing the truth of the world and its people.”

Orion stared at him with sad eyes. “And what would that truth be?”

“None of your concern. It’s nothing serious, just rambling on my part.” Shockwave shutdown the medical equipment and released Orion to allow him to sit up.

Orion looked at his body, which looked good as new. He knew that he was nearly torn apart by Zeta in their fight, so he was amazed at how much work was done to him. He glanced around at the medilab and saw that none of his team were there, most likely having been released after healing as well. He swung his legs off the medical slab when Megatron strolled into the room. Megatron gave Shockwave a quick look and the scientist exited the room, leaving them alone together.

“How are you feeling, Orion?” Megatron asked.

“Alive, at least.” Orion said quietly, not looking at Megatron. Megatron noted the scowl on his face, but elected not to say anything that might drive him away. After a period of silence, Orion said, “You were right about Zeta. About Nyon. Everything.” 

He half expected Megatron to at least gloat about being right, but Megatron was just as solemn as he was. “Don’t feel so bad about it, Pax. I wasn’t expecting you to accept the truth so readily.” He said. “It’s a shame that you had to learn the hard way. But alas, this is an opportunity.”

Orion stood up and stretched his limbs. “An opportunity? For you or me?”

“For both of us. It’s time you had a new mission, Pax. A new purpose!” Megatron grinned.

“Wat purpose? Conquest?” Orion scoffed.

“Justice!” Megatron held up a large fist to his face. “Together, we can bring down Zeta and her autocracy! You’ve seen the proof with your own eyes! Nyon is only the first province to fall. There is no going back for either of us now.”

Orion pushed his arm away and stood up. He always entertained how things could’ve been different if they had joined forces under one banner had the Great Fire not happened. Whenever he was alone, he wished that things were different, that he and Megatron were still friends leading a new age for Cybertron. They were nice dreams, but that was all they were-dreams. As much as he would like to work alongside Megatron, he was not going to rush blindly into an alliance with a mech who openly hates him.

“I’m the last person you want to even think about forming an alliance with, and the Autobots are the last group your Decepticons even want to be associated with, let along fighting alongside. We are “slaves of the Prime” as you call us.” Orion said, glaring into Megatron’s eyes. “How could I possibly trust you?”

To this Megatron replied, “Ask yourself this…do you have a choice?”

XXXXXX

In Kokular’s war room, the newly healed Autobots were already butting heads with the Decepticons. Of course, they were all acting as cordially as they can be with Nightshade’s piercing gaze making sure that things didn’t escalate. Even still, some of the hotter heads were getting aggressive, like Ironhide, who was becoming increasingly agitated.

“You bozos expect us to believe we can leave at any time?” Ironhide asked Starscream.

The air commander shrugged. “Of course. Megatron only wished to consult with your leader. He’s a stubborn wreck if you ask me.”

“This had better be on the level, Starscream.” Ironhide growled.

Skywarp stepped forward. “You’re in no position to be making threats, Autobot!”

Ironhide pushed Skywarp back with a hard shove that almost knocked the taller mech over. “What are you gonna do about it slaghead? Scream at me some more?”

“You just signed your death warrant old timer!” Skywarp growled.

“Stop this you fools!” Nightshade stepped between the angry mechs. “Either of you throw a punch, you’ll lose that hand!”

“You don’t order me around, birdy.” Ironhide bravely said. Nightshade wasn’t impressed with his bravado and stared him down, standing inches from his face.

“This is Kokular, our turf. You are our guests, so it’s only right to act like civilized bots instead of savage sparkeaters without any damn sense. You say you’re a war veteran? Act like it! I’ve seen drunken vehicons act with more dignity than you.” She hissed.

“Damn.” Knockout whistled. Nightshade always had a way with words.

“How long are they going to talk in there?” Hound asked. “I’m not very comfortable sharing the same air as the Cons we’ve been trying to tag and bag since this mess started.”

“Orion and Megatron will talk for as long as they have to in order to get things done.” Elita-1 said. “If they’re talking about what I think they’re talking about, then it’s going to be a long conversation.”

“We’re better off leaving them behind. I can even hail Sky Lynx on our channel.” Prowl muttered. He sincerely hoped that Orion wasn’t seriously considering a possible alliance with the Decepticons. They’ve been fighting for so long and the damage caused by these so-called revolutionaries is not something that can be forgiven overnight.

The chatter went quiet the second Shockwave stepped out of the medibay. His yellow eye glowed eerily as he regarded comrades and enemies alike. “Deliberations are concluded. You will all follow me.”

As the occupants filed out of the room, Ironhide shoved past Skywarp. “Sure, let’s go. Can’t wait to see what the fuss is all about.”

“You better watch your back, old man.” Skywarp hissed at him.

“Right back at ya.” Ironhide grunted.

‘And he’s the veteran on our team.’ Elita-1 thought with a sad shake of her head. ‘Primus help us.’

Down in the hangar bay, Orion and Rodimus were having a talk of their own later that day as the Cons and Bots prepared for their joint operation, which Megatron dubbed “The Invasion”. Rodimus knew this was the only time they could talk like this, so he searched Orion out and pulled him to the side.

“I can’t believe you’re really doing this, Orion.” Rodimus said.

“You and me both. But the madness, the destruction-it has to end somehow.” Orion said.

“But is it going to end? I spent three years trying to keep Nyon from descending further into madness, and all I managed to achieve was killing them all in one night. They weren’t just strangers in need, some of them were my friends, my partners from the racing circuits. People who know me.” Rodimus shook his head, unable to get the sight of Nyon burning from his mind. “I wanted to lead my people to freedom, but all I brought them was death.”

“Leadership is about making hard choices, Rodimus. The price we pay is carrying the guilt, the loneliness...self-doubt.” Orion said, thinking of Elmeth. “You gave it your all, but sometimes it seems like the world just gets darker. You face an impossible situation and you did what you had to do. You had the strength to make the choice. Just as I do now.”

“Orion,” Rodimus looked at the older mech. “Have you…ever made choices that you regret forever?”

“I do, I have made decisions that haunt me every day of my natural life. And my list of regrets gets longer each day I fight.” Orion replied without hesitation. He looked back and saw his team waiting by the dropships. “It’s time to move out. Let’s go end this once and for all.”

Orion and Rodimus met up with their team, while Megatron was already waiting with his. Standing before each other, the two leaders nodded and shook hands, finally solidifying their alliance. The time for talk was over-now it was time to act.

XXXXXX

News of Nyon’s destruction traveled fast and within a few days Iacon learned about the city’s fate. As expected, the people were horrified of such an ancient but desolate city being rendered into ash and molten slag by the female Prime. Blaster, a veteran of the communications caste, made sure to tell everyone of the disaster, and the air over Iacon felt heavy with fear and tension. Everyone knew that Zeta was a bit mad and aggressive, but no one thought that she would go as far as to actually attack a city-state. By rights, that would’ve been considered as an act of war, but at this point, who was going to go up against Zeta?

When she returned, Zeta locked herself up in the citadel with her Elite Guardsmen and stationed five Omega Destroyers around the building for added defense before making preparations on an invasion into the Badlands. Megatron knew about her weapon, but she hadn’t lost the element of surprise. It will take some time working out the exploitable flaws in the vamparc ribbons, but once they were perfect, she will turn all of the Badlands into one massive grave.

‘Megatron has no idea how much resources I have at my disposal. So what if he knows about the vamparc? I have a literal army at my beck and call, and he won’t last against my onslaught.’ Zeta thought as she looked over her military assets. She had the combined might of over 24 states at her command. Sentinel let his arrogance get the better of him, but not her. She won’t go down at the hands of this monster.

“ _Zeta!”_ Torenia’s holo-image appeared in the dais next to Zeta. The senator didn’t look happy at all.

“Ah, Torenia. How nice of you to call. I was just getting used to the sound of silence in the wake of your voice.” Zeta quipped.

“ _How dare you deploy Omega Destroyers in a city without council approval!”_ Torenia yelled, not even trying to hide her anger and disgust. “ _You overstep your boundaries as Prime!”_

“I didn’t think I needed permission to exercise my right to defend our planet.” Zeta said dryly.

“ _Exactly! You didn’t think, and now the people are up in arms about your unprovoked attack on innocent civilians already impoverished and decadent.”_ Torenia said. “ _This will result in a riot, Prime.”_

“And I should care…why?” Prime said coyly.

“ _This isn’t a game, you fool!”_ The senator’s anger actually shocked Zeta a bit. She must really be made to be throwing insults at her. “ _This is exactly why the Decepticons are gaining so many followers, and you’ve just gave them the perfect rallying tool to recruit new members. It’s the Great Fire all over again!”_

 _“_ Call me a fool again and you’ll be buried right next to Sentinel!” Zeta snarled. “Neither the Decepticons nor Orion Pax’s band of traitors is any match for the Omega Destroyers.”

 _“Orion Pax is no traitor!”_ Torenia snarled, eyes flashing. “ _How dare you suggest that Orion would betray his cause, a cause he himself invented, out of spite for you? I don’t know what’s sickening; the lengths you would go to eliminate a political threat, or the sheer desperation with which you’re trying to consolidate your power.”_

“Pax and his Autobots raised their weapons to me during a military operation led by me. I don’t know what counts as treason over in Tyger Pax, but it certainly looked like we weren’t on the same side anymore!” Zeta said.

“ _Your hubris will be the death of us all. If you’re so damn adamant about this, then why don’t we hear his side of the story? If he really is a traitor, then he still deserves the right to a fair trial.”_

“There is no side! Orion pointed his weapons at me, attacked me, fought me in plain view of everyone. That is treason, and Megatron rescuing him only adds to his guilt. But Orion has been crushed and he is of no threat to-“

She was cut off by a booming explosion outside the citadel. Zeta quickly cut off the feed and looked out the window, hearing the sounds of explosions and laser fire. One of her guards ran into the room, looking just as startled as she felt.

“Prime, we’re under attack!”

“What?! But that’s suicide, no one in their right mind would-“ Zeta cut herself off when a thought came to her head and her expression became stony. “Arm the vamparc cannons! Activate the Omega Destroyers! And someone get me Ultra Magnus!”

It was probably the first and only plan Orion and Megatron could agree on. With Zeta mobilizing her forces en masse following the assault on Nyon, it was agreed that the only way to finish this as fast as possible to avoid future disasters was to invade Iacon itself and storm the citadel. Two transports, Astrotrain and Sky Lynx, would fly in as close as possible to deploy their troops. Heavy resistance was expected as vamparc styled guns and cannons that lined the length of the citadel opened fire at full power. This was made even more chaotic as Elite Guardsmen ran out of the building and began fighting the joint Autobot/Decepticon forces.

“Blitzwing, target those tanks!” Ironhide yelled, firing his plasma cannons at the nearest vamparc tanks near the base of the citadel. “We take those out and the Destroyers will be cut off from their power source.”

Prowl assessed the chaos around him and calculated their chances at actually succeeding in this mission, which hung on Orion and Megatron managing to subdue Zeta. “This plan may have a 75% chance of success, but it might just work.” He almost cursed as the statue next to him was blown to pieces, raining down stone on him. “If we survive the next few minutes, that is.”

“Cut the chatter, Autobot!” Nightshade yelled, firing six mini-missiles at a squad of Guardsmen. “Focus on keeping Prime’s forces occupied or this will be a waste of Decepticon lives!”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Ironhide grinned.

Elita-1 was hard at work in wiping out the artillery guns with wide ranging telekinetic waves that uprooted the turrets from the ground. She used the loose stone and debris to disable the soldiers, attacking their legs or weapons only. She hissed as a blaster bolt glanced off her arm and she brought up a TK shield to block the oncoming laser blasts.

“Elita-1, give me a sit-rep.” Prowl said.

“Assault teams are advancing, but we’re taking heavy fire from the gun and rocket turrets! We need air support!”

“Already inbound, kid.” Ironhide replied. “Cover your audials!”

Starscream’s Seeker squadron flew in under the cover of smoke. “Seekers, hold formation. Skywarp, teleport to point zero-three and continue harassment. Thundercracker, Ramjet, take out those cannons!”

The aforementioned Seekers and Blitzwing swooped in low long enough to deliver their payloads, firing two missiles at each target. The citadel shook from the aerial bombardment and the flyers continued hitting the building again and again, slowly wiping out the anti-aircraft guns to clear the air for their comrades.

“Guns are slag, Starscream!” Thundercracker confirmed.

“Excellent!” Starscream said. “Astrotrain, we have air superiority. You may proceed to the drop-zone!”

The massive shuttle form of the triple changer dived over the courtyard from the dark clouds, heading straight for the citadel. Blasting a hole into the roof, Astrotrain found himself assaults by turrets and opened his landing hatch.

“Be ready to jump on my mark!” He told his passengers. As he neared the roof, he yelled, “Mark!”

Orion and Megatron jumped out of Astrotrain and fell in through the hole he made. They fell a few feet into the atrium, where they landed on one of the podiums. Zeta Prime stood in the center of the atrium, not looking the least bit surprised at their entrance.

“Megatron. Orion Pax.” Zeta said in a dangerously calm voice. “This I did not expect. But then again, you two are known for defying expectations.”

“This ends now, Zeta. You had this coming the moment you betrayed our goals and beliefs.” Orion said. Zeta snorted.

“Goals? Beliefs? I did what I had to in order to save our planet. The Decepticons bitch and moan about equality, but what have you barbarians accomplished since sacking Kaon? You’re still stuck in the same filthy slums you were forged in, and the Autobots are too damn incompetent to do anything about it. I was the only one willing to go the extra mile, to do what needed to be done no matter how cruel or horrific, so I could preserve the society we all sacrificed so much for! What’s the point of your dreams and aspirations if you aren’t willing to fight and kill for them?!” She shouted. Zeta calmed herself and went on. “You could have stood by my side as masters of this world. The saviors who rescued Cybertron from the tyrants who dragged our race through the mud. But now you’ll die by my hands, remembered only as terrorists.”

“Liberators.” Megatron growled.

“Heh.” Zeta chuckled. “You first, then.”

She fired a blast at Orion and Megatron, forcing them to jump apart. Zeta immediately focused on Megatron, lashing out with a jagged bolt that caught him in the chest and blasted him into the upper podium. Orion fired a couple of blasts from his barrage cannon, but her vamparc bolts deflected the blasts and shattered the windows around them. Zeta lunged forward and punched the floor, sending a vamparc wave that blew Orion off his feet and into the wall. She flew at him, but Megatron slammed into her in mid-air, hitting the floor in a roll.

Megatron’s fusion cannon was knocked aside before he could fire it, and Zeta stabbed two sharp swords into his abdomen. He grabbed her neck and tried to crush her voice box along with her spine.

“I’ve waited so long to kill you, Megatron!” Zeta hissed. “All your speeches and essays and boasting has amounted to absolutely nothing in your life!”

“Keep talking, Prime.” Megatron goaded her. “You’re making me more eager to snap your neck.”

Zeta grinned and fired a vamparc bolt into his chest, blasting him off her and onto his back. She ran at him, but skidded to a stop and ducked under the orange blade of an axe as it swung over her head. She grabbed his arms and threw him into the floor before kicking him in the face.

Orion spat out a glob of energon as he rolled onto his back and sat up as Zeta marched toward him. As she pointed her cannon arm at him, he waited for the barrel to glow dark red before jumping up and spinning to her left. Grabbing his axe, he swung it down on her elbow, severing her arm and the vamparc cannon with it. Zeta reeled back in pain and howled, clutching her bleeding stump.

“Ah, Orion…you have some steel in you after all.” She laughed scathingly, then her smirk turned into a snarl. “What a waste.”

“With all due, respect, sir,” Orion punched Zeta in the face, cracking her face plate. “You’re boring me.”

He went to grab her, but Zeta extended a silver blade from her other arm and stabbed it into his right shoulder. Twisting the blade, she slashed upwards, severing his arm and kicked him several times to bring him down.

“Officer Pax,” She panted, blade gleaming bright blue with his energon. “Your service is concluded.”

XXXXXX

Outside the citadel, the chaotic battle had reached epic proportions. Systematic air strikes on the severely depowered Omega Destroyers after losing their vamparc power supply allowed the rebels to destroy most of the titans, but the two that remained were still running at full power and were wreaking havoc on the rebel forces. Nightshade, Blitzwing and the Seekers were doing everything they could to bring the giants down, but they were too resilient for ordinary missiles and energy weapons. And no one thought to bring a few phase charges either.

Ironhide and Elita-1 were stuck in a ditch created by an exploding fuel tank. Large purple particle beams tore through the air above them and destroyed another chunk of the courtyard.

“Say it louder, Prowl, I can barely hear a damn thing with all this noise!” Ironhide yelled into his radio.

“ _Destructors are closing in, but there’s an Autobot squad flanking on the left!”_ Prowl said over the comm. “ _And I mean your immediate left!”_

The wall next to them exploded, forcing them back from the shower of debris. Ultra Magnus, Kup and Springer walked out of their improvised tunnel and approached the two rogues, though no shots were fired thankfully. Ultra Magnus still didn’t look very happy about the situation though.

“What the hell are you doing, Kup? Working with Decepticons to assault the citadel…you must be out of your mind.” Ultra Magnus said with a shake of his head. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“It wasn’t my idea, it was Pax’s. I’m just along for the ride. You’re welcome to cuff these Decepti-freaks after we slag Zeta.” Ironhide said.

“Kill Zeta Prime? Are you insane?” Springer exclaimed.

“Springer, after everything she’s done, are you really going to stand with that monster?” Elita-1 asked.

“We’ve seen the footage. Zeta has gone too far and definitely needs to be brought down, though I didn’t want it to be like this.” Ultra Magnus gave Ironhide and Elita-1 a stern glare. “But when this is over, we’re going to have a talk about your choice of allies.”

“Yeah,” Elita-1 sighed. “Long story.”

The ground shook violently and a large shadow fell over them. They looked up and saw an Omega Destroyer standing over them. “ **Targets locked. Termination: Imminent!”**

“Move!” Kup pulled Ironhide aside as the Omega Destroyer slammed its arm into the hole, almost crushing them. Springer transformed into helicopter mode and opened fire on its face with his comrades.

“Concentrate fire at the seam-junction in its undercarriage!” Ultra Magnus shouted. “Once it loses mobility, it’ll be easier to handle!”

Ironhide followed that plan wholeheartedly. “Thanks, Kup.”

“Us old-timers have to stick together.” Kup grinned.

“Yeah, well,” The red Autobot glanced back at the citadel. “I hope things are going as well inside.”

XXXXXX

Megatron slammed into Zeta and punched her into the floor. She spun around and slashed her blade across his chest, and he retaliated with a spin-kick to the face that shattered her face plate. She stumbled back as Megatron cracked his knuckles.

“Not so tough without your vamparc weapons, are you?” He snickered. “At least Sentinel wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.”

“Like this?” Zeta grabbed Megatron’s head and channeled thousands of volts of electricity from her arm into his body. To his credit, Megatron didn’t scream as his body was violently electrocuted, but he came close. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of your dying screams!”

She amped up the voltage and Megatron fell to his knees as Zeta glared hatefully into his eyes. “You had this coming, Megatron! Your reign of terror is over!”

“N-No…it’s only…just…” Megatron grunted. “B-Begun…”

Zeta felt something press up against her chin and she looked down to see Megatron’s fusion cannon pointed at her from below. She had no time to move as the cannon fired its beam and tore her head apart, along with her upper body. Megatron kicked her smoking body aside and spat on it.

Zeta Prime was dead.

XXXXXX

The sudden arrival of Autobot reinforcements turned the tide for the rebel forces. Ultra Magnus led an assault team on one of the Omega Destroyers, taking it down by attacking its weak points thanks to some direction from Kup. The Iaconian militia was routed and forced to retreat or be captured (or killed. Some of the Cons got a little overzealous), with many chased off by Nightshade herself.

“We’re actually winning.” Prowl muttered. “Imagine that.”

“Come on, did you really doubt us?” Thundercracker grinned.

“You don’t want me to answer that.”

Nightshade landed beside Ironhide with Starscream. “The citadel’s defenses are crushed and the state militia fragmented. But that one Destroyer is still giving us some trouble.”

“Sounds like it’s time to call in your heavy guns. Er, gun.” Ironhide said.

Nightshade snapped her fingers. “Shockwave! Concentrate your full power on the final Destroyer!”

“Understood.” Shockwave transformed into his alt mode, a large and powerful space gun hovering in midair. He targeted the head of the Destroyer and fired a powerful purple beam from his barrel that blew apart the Destroyer’s head in one well placed shot. It stumbled, then collapsed to the ground with a mighty tumble that made the ground shake.

XXXXXX 

_“Pax, this is Ironhide! We’re mopping up the stragglers but it looks like we pulled this off!”_

“Ngh…” Orion coughed as he pushed himself up with his remaining arm, moving to hold the deep stab wound in his lower abdomen. “Glad to hear it. Send in Ratchet and his medical crew…” He coughed again. “We’re in pretty bad shape up here.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Orion’s chest exploded as a fusion beam shot through his back and out his chest. Megatron grabbed his head before he could fall and dragged him over to the open window, holding him over the edge. He made sure to have Orion looking straight at him as he said his last piece to his enemy.

“You and your Autobots have served your purpose. Thank you for your assistance in the formation of the new Decepticon Empire. I will be sure to mention your name in a historical passage or something. Goodbye, Orion Pax.” Megatron said. “Oh, and for the record, consider this the beginning of your punishment for taking Elmeth from me. Be sure to beg for forgiveness from her on your way to hell.”

Megatron let go of Orion and allowed his body to fall over the edge, hitting the side of the building in his descent before falling into a deep hole created by a stray blast from an Omega Destroyer earlier. Once he lost sight of the body, Megatron stepped back and gazed into the vast horizon of Iacon’s cityscape.

Iacon was his. And soon all of Cybertron would follow.


	5. Rise

Chapter 5-Rise

Iacon belonged to the Decepticons, now. And Megatron made sure all of Cybertron knew of this fact. Zeta Prime and Orion Pax were dead, killed by Megatron, and the Autobots and what few of the Elite Guard could escape fled into the city’s underground network. The Decepticons, galvanized by their victory, tore apart and defaced any form of the old regime of the Primes, tearing down statues of Zeta, burning Autobot symbols, raising Decepticon flags. Once he was sure that the Decagon was secure, Megatron had Soundwave broadcast his message to every corner of Cybertron across the Grid for all to hear.

“ _Citizens of Cybertron-the Autocracy has been broken! The oppressive rule of the Primes is over! Now begins a new age of order and justice for all. We Decepticons now control Iacon’s DataNet and defense grids. Our soldiers will keep the peace in your sectors. We are the law now!”_ Megatron’s face and voice were heard and seen on every Solivision screen on the planet. “We, _as a people will no longer be subject to the cruelties of the senate or the Prime. What happened to Tarn and Nyon will not happen again, and I will make sure that the monsters who authorized such atrocities such as the Institute and the barbaric Empurata rituals will be given a punishment fit for the crime they committed. We will stand as one, where the strong rule as kings and spearhead a great dynasty that will last for ten thousand stellar cycles. But I am not without mercy. I hereby offer amnesty to all Autobots who wish to join us in rebuilding our once great society. Those who refuse…will be dealt with in kind.”_

Soundwave cut the transmission and Megatron sat back on his makeshift throne he made of Prime’s podium. Nightshade and Starscream stood by his side, though Nightshade was noticeably closer to the throne than Starscream.

“Nice speech, Megatron.” Starscream praised with a grin. “But I thought you’d draw it out a bit to make it sting.”

“Shut up, Starscream.” Nightshade said before turning to her leader. “So what now? We’ve beaten Prime and defanged the Autobots, but we’re still facing an energon crisis among other things.”

“And a whole slew of problems inherited from Zeta.” Starscream grumbled. “Didn’t think of that, did you, my lord?”

Nightshade almost slugged him for that, but Megatron held up a hand to quiet them both. “I will deal with those issues in due time. But right now, we need to cement our hold over the city. Pax’s Autobots are still at large, and every second we waste will give them time to regroup.”

“I’m already on it.” Nightshade said. “I’ve sent the Constructicons to deal with them. It will take some time, but we will find the Autobots.”

Megatron smiled and relaxed on his throne. “Good, very good, Nightshade. Today is a new day for our king. A new dawn. A day of the Decepticons!”

XXXXXX

There were numerous bunkers hidden under the city in case of a natural disaster or if the city was invaded and the militia needed to get the citizens and political figures to a safe place. Ultra Magnus knew where each and every one of them was located and he had no problem ushering the Autobots to a safe and secure location to gather their wits after this unsettling development. They were now holed up in one of the larger bunkers in the border between Iacon and Ultirex, a small state located near Rodion.

The Autobots were definitely not doing well. News of Orion’s death hit them hard, but none felt it harder than Elita-1. She hadn’t said a word since they fled Iacon and she was one of the first to see his body fall from the citadel. She sat in the corner of the situation room cleaning her gun and the others were getting worried about her.

“I can’t believe Orion’s really dead,” Hound shook his head. “I don’t know if we can do this without him.”

Prowl looked at Ultra Magnus. “What’s our status?”

“Our security forces have been scattered. Most of your Autobots have gone underground, as have my fellow Guardsmen.” Ultra Magnus said. “We don’t have enough soldiers to mount a formal resistance.”

Ironhide brandished is arm cannons, looking angrier than all of them put together. “I don’t care how many of us are left. I’m goin’ out there and killing them all!”

“That’s suicide, Ironhide.” Prowl said sternly. He looked at the other bots in attendance. “We need to get out of this sector and regroup. There’s got to be other safe houses where we can locate the rest of our number.”

“There’s no safety out there, Prowl.” Rodimus appeared in the doorway. “The Cons will eventually find you and when they do-“

Elita-1 stood up and slapped Rodimus across the face. “Here’s an idea-maybe we should just detonate the whole city! That’d take care of it!”

“Don’t judge me. I did what I had to do. I had no choice!” Rodimus yelled. “I didn’t want my people, my friends, to die a slow death at the hands of Zeta’s vamparc weapons, so I gave them a quicker solution since Prime came knocking at our door. But maybe…maybe it’s time to make a different kind of choice.”

“What? Accept Megatron’s amnesty? Join the Decepticons? They’ll burn everything to the ground and turn Cybertron into Galvatron’s simultron dream.” Elita-1 said.

“Autobots, Decepticons…none of that matters now. My people are dead and my home is gone because of this war for control. If it’s not from Zeta and the senate, then it’s from you Autobots and the Decepticons. And stellar cycles from now it’ll be between two more factions vying for control.” Rodimus told her, looking at his feet. “The violence will never end. It will never stop. Maybe it’s time we woke up to the truth.”

XXXXXX

He wasn’t dead. Broken, but not dead. But it wouldn’t be long before he passed through death’s door.

Orion Pax had no idea where he was-it was hard to think and move, and his body felt heavy. Megatron’s fusion blast tore a hole in his torso, inches away from his Spark core. His neural circuitry was fried; he couldn’t even register the pain or collate the damage to his systems. His whole body felt numb and weak…and yet he could feel something tugging at him. An outside force pulling him somewhere.

He was nearly blind and deaf, but somehow he found the strength to drag his broken body towards a powerful force. A warm aura that soothed his aches and pains and kept him alive just a little longer. His vision slowly cleared and he saw that he was lying inside a tunnel of some kind-one that lied beneath Iacon and hadn’t been explored in ages. A leftover from the Age of Origins.

_“Orion Pax.”_

A voice called out to him from within. It sounded like his own, but older…wiser…calling out to him across the vast gulf of time. An echo of the future.

‘Who…are you?’ Orion thought wearily as he dragged himself down the tunnel toward the faint light at the end. Was it Mortilus come to take his Spark to the Allspark in the shape of a loved one? Would he see Elmeth again? Oh how he wanted to apologize for all the misery he brought to her…and Megatron.

Megatron.

His mind returned to the Decepticons. His Autobots were in danger right now…he had to do something. Grunting in extreme effort, Orion pulled himself along, dragging his dead legs behind him with only one arm to keep himself upright. Eventually he reached the end of the tunnel, and came upon a chamber bathed in a white glow so bright that he thought he was staring into Vector Sigma. The warm light came from a small object floating in the middle of the chamber on a pedestal, looking like it was a gift from Primus himself.

It was a beautiful prismatic, multifaceted orb composed of clean cut sapphire encased in two golden casings with handholds on both sides. A relic in the shape of an object that once sat in the hilt of Prima’s sword, Temnos. A relic that both Sentinel and Zeta sought to supplant their rule as Prime. The true Matrix of Leadership.

‘ _Orion Pax.’_ The voice spoke again, soft, melodious, and ephemeral. ‘ _Everything you have experienced…everything you are…has led you to this moment. Now, reach out your hand and take hold of the flame…become the being you were meant to be…one who shall lead your people to a true, lasting peace. In order to save your world from its own destruction, you must transform. Transform…and transcend.’_

Using the last of his strength, Orion pulled himself onto the shrine and then reached out to touch the Matrix. The minute his fingers touched the jewel inside, his whole body was consumed with unimaginable pain. His mind was flooded with a deluge of emotions-fire, panic, fear. It was a storm of feeling. But…these weren’t his emotions. They belonged to others.

His people. He could feel them. Loneliness, devastation, loss. Amidst these, he also felt other emotions-courage, selflessness, hope. These Sparks are few but they burn bright against the darkness. He felt his consciousness expand beyond Cybertron, and felt Sparks on other worlds separated by the endless void. He felt it all, like a vast underbase of collective thought and experience.

The Matrix wasn’t just some ancient relic of the Primes, some jewel from the hilt of a legendary sword. It was a piece of the Primal Wellspring itself…the matrix of their Sparks.

XXXXXX

Across the galaxy, a handful of figures almost as old as the stars that dot the void felt a sharp pain in their chests. It was like something stabbed into their Sparks and filled their bodies with a holy fire they haven’t felt since they emerged from the Well of Allsparks. Among these few beings was Alpha Trion.

The Archivist was on his knees in his office, clutching his chest in pain, gritting his teeth. His entire being felt like he was engulfed in holy fire and being purified from the inside out. His Spark contracted and expanded like a pulsating heart pumping blood a mile a minute. It was a pain he had never felt before, but somehow recognized.

“This pain…it’s familiar…” Alpha Trion grunted, struggling to stand up and stumbled to his desk. “I have felt it before…a long time ago.”

He almost collapsed as another sharp pain rippled through his body and he fell over his desk. The Covenant flipped open by itself and the Quill started writing incomprehensible words in its pages. He watched in awe as golden words formed on the pages and became set, chronicling a turning point in cybertronian history-the birth of a new Prime.

_Just as the first twelve before him emerged in a spout of white fire, so did the thirteenth warrior, of whom he was most similar to Primus. Born anew amidst the death of is old identity, he arose reborn yet unchanged. He is the thirteenth, 13 of 13, the optimal number of possibilities. He is the Arisen, and with his birth, Cybertron shall know a period of change unlike any other._

XXXXXX

“Megatron’s amnesty is a joke. He’ll kills us if we go back.” Elita-1 said. “We have to rally the people, formulate some kind of resitance-“

“You’re Autobots!” Rodimus yelled. “You think the people are going to listen to Zeta’s bloodhounds? To them, you’re no different from Zeta-“

“You watch your mouth, kid!” Ironhide growled. “Keep talkin’ that slag and I’ll-“

“Wait, shut up! Did you hear that?” Prowl asked, hearing a creaking sound.

“Hear wha-“

The door was blasted open and Blitzwing came barreling in with the Decepticon twins Runabout and Runamuck. “You’re all under arrest! By all means-try to resist!”

Ironhide slammed the butt of his gun into Blitzwing’s jaw and Ultra Magnus opened fire on the twins to push them back out. “We have to get out of here!”

“Elita-1, get to the tunnel hatch!” Ironhide said. “We’ll cover you!”

Elita-1 tore open the escape hatch that led deeper into the sewer system and took point as she slid down the ladder. Ultra Magnus was the last to leave before lobbing a grenade at the Cons and jumping out. He heard the boom on the other side but didn’t bother checking to see if he scrapped some of them.

“Take this tunnel, it will lead to the aqueduct near the outskirts of Ultirex.” He told them. They reached a fork in the tunnel and turned left, only to run into some opposition.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Long Haul said, pointing his plasma cannon at Elita-1’s chest. “We’ve got this whole sector locked down, so don’t waste your energon!”

Elita-1 clenched her hands in preparation to bring the whole tunnel down on them, but Prowl grabbed her arm and shook his head.

“Don’t Elita-1, it’s not worth it.” He pointed back to the other team of Cons behind them with their weapons raised. “We lost our chance.”

The Autobot “rebels” were arrested and taken back to the surface, where they were paraded through the streets of Ultirex by a Seeker squadron lead by Starscream. The reactions of the spectators varied, some jeered at the Autobots as Zeta Prime’s “pets”, and others threw insults at the Decepticons for such a humiliating stand and were calling for mercy, while many just didn’t take kindly to seeing Orion Pax’s people being treated in such a way. This failed to lift the spirits of the despondent Autobots as they were taken to the transport ship.

“You.” Starscream pulled Rodimus out of the lineup. “You’re Rodimus, yes? From Nyon?”

Rodimus narrowed his eyes. “You know me?”

“We know how you fought against the system. What you’ve sacrificed. If you really want to make a difference and avenge the ghosts of your people…you should come with us.” Starscream offered.

Rodimus frowned and turned to the Autobots. “What about them?”

“That’s up to Megatron.” The Seeker said uncaringly. “But I doubt it’ll be pleasant.”

XXXXXX

The Matrix-fire coursed through Orion’s ravaged circuits. Burning. Purifying. Infusing him with power and clarity. It engulfed his entire being in white flames, morphing him…transforming him into something else. His body grew taller and became stronger, his features shifting and hardening, his wounds healing, with the hole in his chest sealing shut and his arm growing back. His chest cavity opened up and the Matrix settled inside his chest, behind his Spark core and became one with him. Power pulsed off his body in waves and his eyes glowed a bright blue.

‘ _The Decepticons believed we were a divided people-that only absolute control can unite us. Perhaps that is the greatest deception of all. Within this Matrix, within the Allspark, all are one. There must be a moment one must stop to recognize something of ourselves in each other.’_ Orion Pax thought. ‘ _Unity isn’t some hoped for event. It’s a matter of perception. I have fought with my Autobots to uphold a crumbling system that had forgotten to uphold its most sacred truth-freedom is the right of all sentient beings. Freedom from oppression. From fear. I know that if the cybertronian people-society itself-is to survive, we must change what we’ve been fighting for. Not for the rule of law, but for a better tomorrow. And that must begin…with me.’_

The flames died down and smoke rose from Orion’s new body. He was stronger in mind and body, wiser than he ever felt in his life. He was no longer Orion Pax…he was Optimus Prime. And he had a world to set free.

XXXXXX

Rodimus had taken another ride to Iacon with Starscream inside Astrotrain, while the Autobots were in a prison transport to be incarcerated in the cells of the Decagon.

Rodimus had never seen Nightshade before, but he immediately knew her at first sight. She was the type of person you’d recognize at once just from their name alone, thanks in part due to her presence and intimidating appearance. Nightshade was often shadowed by the ever silent spymaster, Soundwave and she certainly lived up to her reputation of being a stern, no nonsense femme as she escorted Rodimus through the large halls of the Citadel.

“Step lively, Rodimus. Megatron’s been waiting for you.” She said, ignoring the other Decepticons as they walked past groups of partying soldiers celebrating their victory. “He hates to be kept waiting.”

Rodimus did his best to keep his face from showing the discomfort he was feeling. All throughout the Decagon, the Decepticons were acting like animals, defacing statues, stealing relics and ornaments, ripping apart anything that had relevance to the old regime of the Primes. These were the people he once supported? An army of rabid savages more violent than those mindless brutes in the Primal Vanguard? To him, only a small percentage of Cons seemed to genuinely want to make their lives better for themselves, the majority just wanted to break things and kill people who looked at them the wrong way.

He never thought he’d get too involved in the Autobot/Decepticon conflict. He tried his best to avoid choosing sides and focus on Nyon; all he had to do was protect his home-his people. But with that gone, Rodimus had no idea what he was fighting for. He was aimless, and lost. And it was clear that trusting these band of thugs to create any kind of lasting peace may be the biggest mistake of all.

Nightshade pushed open the doors to the atrium and saluted Megatron. “Megatron, I’ve brought Rodimus of Nyon.”

“Good, send him in. And feel free to enjoy the celebrations, Nightshade. You deserve it.”

It was obvious that Nightshade had no intention of joining that nameless rabble outside, but she nodded and pushed Rodimus into the room before shutting the door. The signs of the earlier battle were still evident in the atrium, and to Rodimus’s horror, Megatron had Zeta’s body, both halves, hanging above his throne like some twisted decoration. He even had the body welded together, albeit unevenly just out of spite. Megatron stood from his throne and smiled at Rodimus as if greeting an old friend.

“Rodimus, welcome to the winning team. Come, join me.” Megatron invited Rodimus to join him on the balcony overlooking the Decagon and the wider Iacon area. Soundwave stood close by, keeping an eye on Rodimus, but silent as ever. “Rodimus, you have proved yourself resourceful in Nyon. Few bots would have had the will and fortitude to willingly sacrifice so many to deprive the enemy of victory.”

“The cost was too high.” Rodimus said.

“Nonsense.” Megatron scoffed. “If you hadn’t acted decisively, Zeta would’ve become unstoppable. You would have died there with your people. A true leader acts without doubt or regret. Those are for the weak. You are made of sterner stuff.”

To his confusion, Rodimus gave him a little smile. “That’s funny. Orion told me the same thing.”

“Orion was a fool blinded by idealism. It’s a common enough failing among Autobots. Except, of course, for Zeta. Her ruthlessness made her a worthy opponent. Shame she was a madwoman of the highest order.” Megatron scowled. “The Autobots are blind and delude themselves into believing they can revive a decaying system that has caused them nothing but pain. Even Orion knew this, and in the end, his conviction was weaker than mine. When it comes to a battle of wills, it is one’s conviction that decides the victor. You would do well to remember that, boy.”

The doors opened up again and Starscream entered with Elita-1 in tow. “This Autobot’s interrogation was a waste of my time, Megatron! She knows nothing!”

“Come now, Starscream. Her torture wasn’t about gleaning information. It was about domination. Submission.” Megatron stepped up to Elita-1, whose body was covered in dents and burns from her intense interrogation session with some of the less savory Cons in Megatron’s ranks. Despite the pain she was in, she managed to glare right back at him with all the hatred she could muster. “But I suspect she and her fellow officers won’t be broken so easily. Execute them. Then have their husks scrapped for spare parts.”

Rodimus gasped at the order, and Elita-1 gave him a hateful glare. “I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

XXXXXX

Despite it being nighttime in Nyon, Optimus Prime could see that the sky over the city was covered in ash clouds that went on for miles over the desolated city. It reminded him all too well of the Great Burning that ravaged Nyon, and the horrible scenery was all too familiar in his mind.

Much of Nyon’s infrastructure was ravaged and destroyed by both the Omega Destroyers and the bombs. What remained of the buildings were just charred lumps of melted metal and stone, with the streets littered with craters and possibly the unrecognizable remains of the people who died in the initial attack and explosions. Very little of the original landscape was left, save, perhaps, the Acropolis, which was relatively untouched.

The Matrix, still warm and pulsing in Optimus’ chest, drew him towards that part of Nyon for some reason. Obviously, it wasn’t a rescue mission, as he doubted that anyone survived this level of destruction. It took him a while to navigate the fallen buildings and layers of rubble on foot, though his new body was capable of withstanding the harsh conditions of the city. Odd how he felt different, yet also the same. These sensations he was getting from the Matrix didn’t feel strange at all. It was almost natural to him.

The closer Optimus got to the Acropolis, the more he began to realize that what he was sensing was the pulsations of life. It wasn’t a normal life signal, it was denser and larger. And it was coming from underground. Something massive was buried beneath the Acropolis, miles under the surface.

Standing in front of the temple entrance, he knelt down and placed his hand on the ground. He had no idea, what to expect, but he knew one thing was certain-where there is life, there is hope.

XXXXXX

Thundercracker and Skywarp took Elita-1 down to the detention center where the other Autobots were being held in a cramped cell.

“Don’t take it too hard, Autobot. I’m sure your heroic exploits will be remembered long after you’re gone.” Thundercracker said mockingly.

“Yeah, especially when we’re wearing your parts around as trophies!” Skywarp laughed. They tossed Elita-1 into the cell and looked them over.

“Now, who wants to get dismantled first?” Thundercracker asked them.

“Throttle down, Thundercracker.” Rodimus walked up to them. “Megatron wants these ones kept alive.”

Skywarp was confused about these last minute orders, but Thundercracker knew better than to take such an order at face value, especially considering Megatron never changed his mind on a whim like that. “That’s news to me, you lying piece of scrap.”

“Okay,” Rodimus shrugged. “At least I tried.”

Rodimus pointed his arms forward and fired a barrage of heat beams from the pipes on his forearms. He hit Thundercracker in the face, and Skywarp aimed his cannons at him.

“Stupid move, kid!” Skywarp hissed. “No one messes with the-“

He took a hard punch to the face from a now-free Ironhide and hit the ground like a rock. “Told you it wasn’t over.”

Rodimus broke the inhibitor clamp on Elita-1 to regain her powers and transformation ability and turned to the others. “Let’s go before we have every Con in the sector hunting us.”

“Why risk yourself for us? I thought you hated us.” Elita-1 asked. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“I saw for myself that Megatron’s no different from Zeta. He won’t stop until any trace of the old order is completely destroyed, and the entire world is under his banner.” Rodimus shook his head. “I know if they could, they would’ve fought for freedom. I finally that’s what you’ve all been fighting for all along. So I’m rolling with you.” He grinned. “If you’ll have me.”

Elita-1 smiled and patted his shoulder. “Well, how can I refuse after that? You’re more than welcome to join us, Rodimus.” She turned to Ultra Magnus. “First things first, we need to organize ourselves. With you being the ranking officer, Ultra Magnus, leadership is yours.”

“Not until we know what became of Orion.” Ultra Magnus said. He firmly believed that Megatron didn’t kill Orion, and until he saw a body, he’ll keep believing that.

Hound ran over to a terminal and immediately started working on it. “Well, if his ID code’s still transmitting, I can hack into the Citadel’s database to try to locate him.” It only took him a minute or two to bypass the obligatory firewalls and get a lock on any familiar signals. “Hold up, this makes no sense!”

“What?” Elita-1 asked anxiously.

“It says his signal’s coming from Nyon!”

“How’d he get there without anyone noticing him?” Ultra Magnus wondered aloud.

“Who cares? We need to get our leader and give the finger to bucket head topside.” Ironhide said. “Let’s roll out!”

After grabbing what weapons they could find, the Autobots made their way out of the detention center and made their way up from the basement level to the first floor lobby, where they were finally stopped by the Constructicons.

“You ain’t leavin’ so soon, are ya?” Long Haul said. “We’re just barely getting acquainted!”

“Yeah, where’s your manners?” Scrapper laughed.

The Autobots raised their weapons and Elita-1 prepared to uproot the entire floor to throw at them. But it wasn’t necessary as the wall next to the Constructicons was blasted apart and a hail of laser fire erupted from the hole, pushing them back. Springer and Kup entered through the hole while the massive form of Broadside continued to lay down cover fire for them.

“Heard there was a prison break in progress.” Springer smirked. “We didn’t want to miss the party.”

“Great timing, Springer.” Elita-1 said.

“We need to get out of here, now.” Prowl said. “The Cons are locking down the Citadel.”

“We won’t make it to the lobby at this rate from down here.” Ironhide said.

“That won’t be a problem. I sniffed out an escape route through the substructure,” Hound said. “The Cons won’t be able to track us down there.”

“Lead the way, Hound.” Elita-1 said and prayed for her loved one. ‘Hang on, Orion. Help is on the way!’

XXXXXX

Optimus stood before a colossal tower of a fortress that was buried under dirt and metal from ages past that sat on the outskirts of Nyon, long forgotten by its people. He placed a hand on the surprisingly warm metal and lowered his head as if in prayer. Ash fell from the sky like snow and blanketed the city in a sheet of gray.

“So much death here. So many Sparks snuffed out-devoured by the fear and violence that have taken hold of this world…that nearly tool hold of me.” Optimus whispered. It was odd to feel so at ease after spending two years filled with anger and loathing at both Megatron and himself. He spent so much time lamenting what could have been, he failed to think about how he should make his world better.

Something was buried under the Acroplex, and it was waking. A powerful force that was ancient and noble. Though it slept for millennia, it was still aware of the strife Cybertron’s people went through. After having witnessed this senseless loss of life, felt thousands dying all at once, it grieved. Even now, Optimus could feel the Matrix calling it back to life. Placing his hand on the tower, a warm tingle ran down his arm into the structure. It stirred.

“Orion!”

Optimus straightened up when he heard his name. “Elita?”

He turned around to see Elita-1 and the other Autobots running down the street toward him. Elita-1 jumped at him and he had to take a step back as he caught her in his arms in a tight hug. She squeezed him hard before pulling back to stare at his face.

“Is it really you?” She asked softly, staring up at him in wonder.

“That’s something you should’ve asked before you hugged me.” Optimus joked and held her tighter. “Yes, it’s me, Elita. I’m back.”

“But…how?” she looked him over, her eyes trailing over his fixed faceplate and his broader, bulkier frame. No traces of his old body were present aside from his “lucky” faceplate. That, and his eyes, which were brighter than ever. Overall, he looked older and more regal. “You’re supposed to be dead. I saw you fall.”

“Yeah, and where’d you get that upgrade?” Ironhide asked, also unable to disguise his awe. “Not that I’m complainin’. The new look suits you.”

“That is a long story that even I don’t fully know. But I can tell you this-I am back, and I know what we have to do.” Optimus said.

Elita-1 noticed his voice had changed as well. He lacked the bitter edge he once had in his tone and sounded more at peace. He seemed surer of himself. What happened to him?

“It’s good to have you back, Pax. Now we can rendezvous with the rest of our forces and launch a counterattack on the Decepticons.” Prowl said.

Optimus walked over to Prowl, and Ironhide whistled at the difference in height between all of them. Only Ultra Magnus stood taller than Optimus, and that was saying something.

“Patience, Prowl. Megatron will be dealt with. But first, we need to get our bearings again.”

“What do you mean?” Rodimus asked.

Optimus turned to address all of his Autobots, standing tall and strong with a renewed sense of purpose. “Autobots…friends-long ago we took oaths as officers to protect the people of this world. But as times grew grim, we let the rule of law crush them. We lost our way. Now, with the Decepticons in power, our world needs us more than ever. Not to enforce a system of law, but to bring them justice. Freedom.”

“Powerful words, but we’re outnumbered and outgunned.” Prowl said. “The probability of us reaching the Citadel in Decepticon controlled Iacon is little under 50.1 percent.”

“I’ll fight no matter what, but I’m not sure how we can win.” Rodimus said. “We just don’t have the power.”

“We do, Rodimus. Tight here.” Optimus opened his chest plate to reveal the soft glow of the Matrix inside his chest. The faces of the awestruck Autobots were coated in an azure glow of the sacred relic.

“The Matrix…Primus, I never…really believed…” Elita-1 couldn’t find her voice. After spending so many years reading about the Matrix and the Primes, she never dreamed that it was actually real…and that Orion was holding it within him.

“This is impossible. I mean…I’m dreaming, right?” Kup saw, just as speechless.

“It really is the Matrix.” Ultra Magnus whispered. “But…only a Prime can hold it within them.”

“I am Prime now. Optimus Prime.” Optimus said strongly. He held the Matrix in his hands so its power could be felt. “I’ve been given a second chance to set things right. To fight for a better world. I ask you now-will you stand with me?”

“This is all just…it’s hard to believe this is really happening.” Elita-1 said and she smiled up at him. “But yeah-I’m with you, Orion. Er, Optimus. Till all are one.”

“Till all are one.” Optimus smiled. “But before we roll out, there’s someone I want you all to meet. Someone who’s suffered through ages of fire and death, and dreamed through the long ages of history. He shall not rise as Acroplex-forgotten ruin of a lost age, but as a living embodiment of our shining future. A symbol of the better world we shall forge together…”

The Matrix glowed brighter and the ground began to shake as if in the early stages of an earthquake. The ruins of fallen buildings and streets broken apart as a massive gray hand reached up from the depths of the dead city. Following this hand was an enormous arm, which was connected to a colossal body hundreds of stories tall, almost dwarfing an Iaconian skyscraper. As more of the being was revealed, the awestruck Autobots saw that it was a gigantic cybertronian standing two miles tall, looming over the ruins of Nyon-a Metrotitan.

“Arise, Metroplex.”


End file.
